On April 28, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments for ''

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...

'' (Ohio), which was consolidated with three other same-sex marriage cases from the other states in the

Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

: '' Tanco v. Haslam'' (Tennessee), ''

DeBoer v. Snyder ''DeBoer v. Snyder'' is a lawsuit that was filed by April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse on January 23, 2012 in federal district court, challenging Michigan's ban on adoption by same-sex couples so they can jointly adopt their children. In August 2012, J ...

'' (Michigan), ''

Bourke v. Beshear The lead cases on same-sex marriage in Kentucky are ''Bourke v. Beshear'', and its companion case ''Love v. Beshear''. In ''Bourke'', a U.S. district court found that the Equal Protection Clause requires Kentucky to recognize valid same-sex marri ...

'' (Kentucky). On June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit's decision, paving the way for same-sex marriage to become legal in those states, and setting a precedent for the entire nation. All four states complied with the ruling the same day it was issued before the mandate was actually issued. Every state in the circuit had a district court ruling against their states' ban, but they were eventually stayed pending appeal. The Sixth Circuit consists of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. On August 6, 2014, the Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments for same-sex marriage cases from each state within the circuit. On November 6, 2014, the Sixth Circuit in a split 2-1 decision, upheld the states' same-sex marriage bans, reversing the district courts' rulings that struck them down. The Sixth Circuit was the first and only circuit court since the landmark ruling ''

United States v. Windsor ''United States v. Windsor'', 570 U.S. 744 (2013), is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case concerning same-sex marriage. The Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition o ...

'' to uphold the constitutionality of states' same-sex marriage bans which caused a

circuit split In United States federal courts, a circuit split occurs when two or more different circuit courts of appeals provide conflicting rulings on the same legal issue. The existence of a circuit split is one of the factors that the Supreme Court of t ...

. Prior to the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Obergefell'', same-sex marriages were neither performed nor recognized in

(with the exception of a divorce that was granted to a same-sex couple). However, recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriage was technically legal for a brief amount of time when a federal judge overturned part of the state's ban on same-sex marriage. This ruling was stayed the following day. Recognition of same-sex relationships (marriages under that name or any other) have been banned by the state constitution since 2004. The state's ban was struck down entirely on 1 July 2014 and was stayed pending appeal. Michigan's state constitution bans recognition of same-sex unions in any form following a 2004 popular vote.

Same-sex marriage in Michigan Same-sex marriage in Michigan has been legal since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in '' Obergefell v. Hodges'' on June 26, 2015. The U.S. state of Michigan had previously banned the recognition of same-sex unions in any form after a popular vot ...

was ruled legal on March 21, 2014 by the U.S. District Court for Michigan's Eastern District. More than 300 same-sex couples were married in Michigan on Saturday, March 22, 2014, but a stay against enforcement of the ruling was issued late that same day until March 26. On March 25, 2014, a federal appeals court stayed the ruling indefinitely. The same-sex marriages that were performed that day are currently recognized. On April 14, 2014, U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black ruled that Ohio had to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions Two days later he stayed enforcement of his ruling except for the birth certificates sought by the plaintiffs. On March 14, 2014, U.S. District Judge

Aleta Trauger Aleta Arthur Trauger (born December 9, 1945) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Education and career Born in Denver, Colorado, Trauger received a Bachelor of Arts degree fr ...

granted a preliminary injunction requiring Tennessee to recognize the marriages of the three plaintiff couples. On April 25, 2014, the Sixth Circuit, in an unpublished ''

per curiam In law, a ''per curiam'' decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively (and typically, though not ...

'' order, issued a stay of the district court's decision in ''Tanco,'' and ordered that the case be assigned to a panel of judges on the Sixth Circuit for expedited consideration on the merits.

References

{{reflist United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 6

See also

References