DETROIT (AP) — A federal judge says he'll hear arguments October 1st on the legality of Michigan's ban on gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
Judge Bernard Friedman set the date Wednesday in what could be a ground-breaking lawsuit filed by two Detroit-area nurses who are lesbians.
Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer and three adopted children live under o
ne roof in Hazel Park. But Michigan law bars the women from jointly adopting each other's kids.
At the judge's suggestion, the lawsuit was expanded last year to also challenge a 2004 constitutional amendment that recognizes marriage in Michigan as only between a man and a woman. Rowse and DeBoer say the amendment and the adoption law violate their rights.
Friedman recently turned down the state's request to dismiss the lawsuit.
