[NOTE: This piece has been edited to correct a claim that Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson had helped draft the ballot language. This statement, based on civil rights attorney Dana Nessel’s opening remarks, was, apparently, inaccurate. I have corrected this post and issued a correction with audio HERE.] Last night, the Jim Toy LGBTQ Community Center sponsored […]

Dana Nessel, the rock star Michigan attorney who was part of the legal team that made same-sex marriage the law of the land in the USA, has formed a ballot committee to collect signatures to put changing the state constitution to protect members of the LGBT community to voters in 2016. If passed, the measure would then compel state legislators […]

I’m verklempt April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, the Michigan lesbian couple whose lawsuit against the state of Michigan led to the overturning of our state’s discriminatory same-sex marriage ban weren’t notified of the District Court Judge Bernard Friedman’s decision ahead of time. Instead, like the rest of us, they and their attorney Dana Nessel had to wait until it was […]

I want to introduce you to the legal team who is fighting to end the ban on same sex marriage in Michigan. These heroes haven’t received any compensation at all for their works but they deserved to be recognized.

Attorneys Carole Stanyar, Dana Nessel, Ken Mogill and Robert Sedler have years of experience trying criminal and civil cases both in state and federal courts. Ms. Stanyar, Mr. Mogill, and Mr. Sedler have all argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, while Ms. Nessel is recognized as one of Michigan’s premier attorneys for LGTB issues, having represented numerous clients over the years. Additionally, there are two nationally recognized, high-profile attorneys, Mary Bunauto and Leslie Cooper, who have signed on to consult for the trial. Mary Bunauto is the Civil Rights Project Director for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). Ms. Bunauto successfully argued Baker v. State of Vermont in 1999 which allowed for the first civil unions law in the country. Ms. Bunauto also worked on the DOMA case. Leslie Cooper is an attorney for the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. She is currently challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage in Whitewood v. Wolf.

These attorneys who are handling the DeBoer v. Snyder case have assembled a nationally recognized team of expert witnesses who…

NOTE: Every day this week I will be posting about the fundraiser for the legal fund for April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse who are challenging Michigan’s discriminatory marriage ban. Over half of the residents in our state oppose this law and it’s time for it to go away for good. Equally as important, it is a case that’s likely to […]

One day we’ll just call it “marriage” NOTE: Every day this week I will be posting about the fundraiser for the legal fund for April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse who are challenging Michigan’s discriminatory marriage ban. Over half of the residents in our state oppose this law and it’s time for it to go away for good. Equally as important, […]