On to the trial

I went down to the Federal Courthouse today for the marriage equality case. Right after that I did my usual service at the Ruth Ellis Center, so you had a good chance to hear the outcome before I had time to tell you about it.

I heard there was a pro-gay rally outside the court building at noon. I learned of it only afterwards, so wasn't in the midst of perhaps a hundred people (newspaper reports 200). There was one anti-gay protester. She was still there when I arrived after 2:00 and was still there when the proceedings were over. She got a lot of press attention.

It took about 20 minutes for me to get through security. With me in line were three pastors, all women, wearing their clerical collars. One was from the nearby Episcopal church, the other two were Unitarian-Universalist from Southfield and Flint. One had an iPad and showed pictures of the rally. Another said she was on-call to conduct weddings today if there was a favorable ruling (alas, not the one from Genesee County because it's clerk's office is shut down). I heard there were clerks in 18 counties ready to perform same-sex weddings today.

This case drew enough attention that the judge's regular courtroom was full and a large number of us (my guess at least 100) were directed to another room across the hall. In it were two views of the courtroom, one of the judge and one of whoever was addressing the judge. The first couple rows in this room included tables that held lots of laptop computers. I'm sure this was the press corps. The advantage of being in this room is we could see the face of the speaker and could mutter amongst ourselves. The woman next to me passed notes to her friend and even showed me a couple of them.

The purpose for today's proceedings were to determine if a summary judgment was possible. This is where the judge, with input from both sides, says the facts are clear and not in dispute, the outcome is obvious, so I'll give you my ruling and we won't bother with the trial. So the state said a summary judgment is possible -- simply dismiss the case. We have these reasons. The plaintiffs (the lesbian couple) said as summary judgment is possible -- it is obvious we are being discriminated against in violation of the US constitution so simply say this Michigan Constitution amendment must be overturned.

Each side had 45 minutes to state their case, though neither side took that long. I didn't take notes so won't try to repeat their major points. One item did stick in my mind was the state lawyer saying the current law is not an attack on gay people. I'm sure she was trying to say the state really does like gay people, we just don't think they should be allowed to get married. But the people around me weren't buying.

One major point of contention is the state saying the fitness of gays and lesbians as parents is in dispute (part of her claim the best parents are a mother and a father). The lawyer for the lesbians responded by saying there might be one or two (ahem, discredited) researchers but everyone else says gay and lesbian parents do just fine. The judge pounced on that saying her long list of social science organizations (such as the American Academy of Pediatrics) is not proof.

The last speaker was a lawyer for the Oakland County Clerk. The clerk is the one who issues marriage applications and would do so for the plaintiffs. Her lawyer made a great and impassioned plea that she be allowed to issue marriage applications without discrimination. He got some applause in our room, though those in the regular court were not allowed to.

The judge admitted he had completed today's decision before the day's proceedings, though he said he would have to revise it a bit before releasing it. The decision was that a summary judgment was not possible because there were important issues that needed to be discussed in a trial. He thanked both sides for the excellence in their briefs and their willingness to work together (such as avoiding motions that only serve to delay and annoy). He asked both sides how long it would take them to put together a witness list and set a resumption of proceedings for February 25th. He invited is all back to witness the trial.

The report from the Detroit News. And a more comprehensive report from the Detroit Free Press, including photos of the rally. Both reports mention some of the arguments and both say that many gay couples had gathered in clerk's offices in hopes of grabbing a marriage application the moment the ruling came down. Alas, all left empty-handed and many were in tears.