The decision by 75th District Court judge Michael Carpenter to stop ALL marriages in the 75th District Court in Midland to avoid having to marry same-sex couples sent a shockwave of outrage and disbelief throughout the country yesterday. What he did was legal in the technical sense because District Court judges are authorized, not required to perform marriages. However, given […]

Everything LGBT people need to know about signing up for health insurance after getting married. Last week’s historic ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court affirming marriage equality for everyone across the country means there are going to be a lot of weddings this summer. But that’s just the beginning of the good news. Many LGBT people may not realize that […]

This post has been updated several times. See below. It hasn’t been particularly surprising to see marriages being halted in places like Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. In these states, some government officials are refusing to marry or issue marriage licenses to ANY couple, same-sex or opposite-sex, in order to avoid having to marry same-sex couples. However, this bigotry has now […]

Last week was an incredible week for all Americans, but most especially for progressives and activists and advocates for equality and equity. We need to take time to celebrate these crucial and impactful Supreme Court decisions, all three of them. King v. Burwell affirmed what most common sense non-elected Republicans have known from the beginning of the Affordable Care Act. […]

The following images were captured at the Braun Court Decision Day celebration in Ann Arbor on June 26, 2015. The celebrants were joined by SCOTUS marriage equality plaintiffs April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse and their Michigan legal team. It was a day of pure joy. Jayne and April take a break from recording interviews The poetry that concluded SCOTUS Justice […]

Not much more to say right now except “How quick can I get off work to go celebrate with my friends?” If you’d like to read the 5-4 decision striking down same-sex marriage bans in the USA, you can do so HERE. Also, too, suck it Bill Schuette, Todd Courser, Gary Glenn, and Cindy Gamrat. Your bigotry and hatred lose […]

The law has delivered great progress, but there’s still more work to be done. With LGBT Pride Month still in full swing, it’s a great time to celebrate the progress made by and for the LGBT community, especially in healthcare access thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). At the same time, there’s a lot at stake this month, between […]

NOTE: This post has been updated to include information about when Michigan abolished common law marriages. Republican Todd Courser took to the internet to defend “attacks” he’s facing over his package of legislation paving the way for “RFRA for Marriage” and making it harder for same-sex couples to get married. In a piece on his website titled “Breaking Courser Answers […]

Both the lawsuit and legislation seek to update gender markers on state identification. Imagine having to share the deepest of personal information about yourself — information that could subject you to discrimination, violence or worse — every time you wanted to cash a check. Imagine being challenged every time you pull out your state-issued identification because you look like a […]

Yesterday I predicted that a three-bill package introduced in the state House by Republicans Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat was paving the way for “RFRA for Marriage” legislation in Michigan. Just hours later, Todd Courser confirmed that this is the case. The confirmation came in a piece titled “It’s Time to End the States Involvement in Marriage” on Courser’s website […]

NOTE: This post has been updated HERE. Also, the section covering HB 4731 has been edited to clarify its intent. Republicans Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat introduced a package of bills in the state House yesterday that are a continuation of their crusade to turn Michigan into a theocracy. There three bills in the package. House Bill 4731 changes the […]