Public
universities and state and local governments can't provide
health insurance to the partners of gay employees
without violating the state constitution, the Michigan
court of appeals ruled Friday. A three-judge panel
said a 2004 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage also
applies to same-sex domestic-partner benefits.
''The marriage
amendment's plain language prohibits public employers from
recognizing same-sex unions for any purpose,'' the court
wrote. The decision reverses a 2005 ruling from a
county judge who said universities and government
agencies could provide the benefits.
A constitutional
amendment passed by Michigan voters in November 2004
made the union between a man and a woman the only agreement
recognized as a marriage ''or similar union for any
purpose.'' Those six words led to the court fight over
benefits for gay couples.
Gay couples and
others had argued that the public intended to ban
same-sex marriage but not block benefits for unmarried
opposite-sex or same-sex domestic partners.
The appeals court
agreed with the Michigan attorney general, Republican
Mike Cox, who said in a March 2005 opinion that
domestic-partner benefits for same-sex couples are not
allowed in a state that does not recognize same-sex
unions.
The legal
challenge was mounted by 21 gay couples who work for the
city of Kalamazoo, several state universities, and the
state government.
''The protection
of the institution of marriage is a long-standing public
policy and tradition in the law of Michigan,'' judges Kurtis
Wilder, Joel Hoekstra, and Brian Zahra noted In the
unanimous ruling.
Jeffrey
Montgomery, executive director of the Triangle Foundation, a
leading gay and lesbian advocacy group in Michigan, said the
legal sanctity of marriage was not in question. ''This
ruling will result in families being robbed of their
health care and other basic necessities that are
fundamental to protecting their well-being,'' he said. (AP)
