Dozens rally in Detroit favoring same-sex marriage

10/16/2013

April DeBoer, left, and Jayne Rowse protest at the federal courthouse in Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. The protest is in support of a federal lawsuit involving same-sex couple DeBoer and Rowse who are seeking to overturn Michigan's ban on gay adoption and same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Detroit News, David Coates) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT  — Several dozen people are rallying outside the federal courthouse in Detroit to show their support for overturning Michigan’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Federal Judge Bernard Friedman said Wednesday he wouldn’t immediately throw out the law, and he scheduled a trial for February.

Friedman himself earlier suggested that Detroit-area nurses Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer challenge the ban by amending their lawsuit challenging a state law that bars same-sex partners from adopting each other’s children.

Rowse and DeBoer appeared at the rally.

Christine Weick drove 175 miles from Hopkins in western Michigan to hold a sign that says God opposes gay marriage.