Approximately 300 same sex couples got married on March 22 after U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman's ruling that struck down Michigan's same sex marriage ban. There was a stay issued later that day, but not after those 300 marriages took place.
Now the lawyers for Michigan are arguing that the recent ruling in the 6th Circuit invalidates these marriages.
"Consequently, from a legal standpoint, because the marriages rested solely on the district court's erroneous decision, which has now been reversed, it is as if the marriages never existed, and Plaintiffs' requests for benefits attendant to a legal marriage must be denied," lawyers for the state wrote in the six-page brief.
Governor Rick Snyder is completely comfortable with stripping married couples of the rights that go along with their government issued marriage licenses.