No Decision in Michigan Same-Sex Marriage Case

Dozens of people rallied in front of the federal courthouse in Detroit Wednesday in support of a ruling to lift the ban on same-sex marriage in Michigan, even if only temporarily.

Those supporters will have to wait even longer, after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman chose to expedite a trial instead of making a ruling Wednesday, setting a Feb. 25 court date.

Friedman, citing the June U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized legally married gay couples, concluded the plaintiffs are "entitled to their day in court and they shall have it," according to a USA Today story.

The judge had been expected to overturn Michigan’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage, and local couples had been preparing to obtain marriage licenses while the ban was lifted, before an appeal was filed.

The case that came before Friedman involves April DeBoer, 42, and Jayne Rowse, 48, of Hazel Park, who want to jointly adopt each other's children, according to Michigan Radio.

Michigan law does not permit unmarried couples to do this, and the couple is asking the court to overturn a 2004 law that prohibits same-sex couples from marrying in the state.

“I have to decide this as a matter of law. I intend to do so,” Friedman said in a Detroit Free Press story.