Advocates Of Same-Sex Marriage Host Candlelight Vigil In Lansing
LANSING (WWJ/AP) -- Oral arguments on same-sex marriage in the U.S. Supreme Court are set to begin on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, crowds gathered outside the State Capitol in Lansing on Monday as demonstrators showed support at a candlelight vigil for the approval of same-sex marriage in the state, as could be decided on by the Supreme Court.
Over 200 people carried signs declaring "Equality," "Love Must Win" and "America Is Ready For The Freedom To Marry." Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum was among those in attendance.
Byrum was the first to issue a same-sex marriage license to a couple in Michigan in 2014 during the one-day window of opportunity when a U.S. District Court temporarily ruled the state's ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional.
"It's just a good feeling to be on the right side of history," Byrum said. "When my boys grew up, maybe they'll realize that 'hey, mom did something right for us.'"
The arguments are being made at the Supreme Court in Washington on Tuesday. The cases at issue come from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, which had marriage bans upheld by an appeals court in Cincinnati. A decision isn't expected until later this year.
The Supreme Court struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law in 2013. The first state to allow same-sex marriage was Massachusetts in 2004.
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