City Commissioners Send Message to State to Drop Gay Marriage Appeal

A majority of the members of the Royal Oak City Commission want Gov. Rick Snyder Attorney General Bill Schuette to drop the state’s appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman’s ruling last month that a voter-backed ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

City Commissioner Jeremy Mahrle said dropping the appeal would be consistent with action taken by officials who dropped appeals of court rulings overturning gay marriage bans in Oregon, Nevada, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California and Illinois, The Daily Tribune reports.

“They realize their appeals will not withstand a federal challenge,” Mahrle said Monday, noting a sea change in attitudes over equal rights for all.

Commissioner David Poulton cited emotion surrounding the same-sex marriage issue in his dissenting vote and said the process is already at work to resolve the issue.

“It will be dealt with and it will move forward,” he said.

Another commissioner, Peggy Goodwin, abstained from voting. She said that though she supports Royal Oak’s 2013 human rights proposal, Michigan’s appeal of Friedman’s ruling is outside the purview of city commissioners.

But Mayor Jim Ellison said the resolution sends a strong message to Snyder and Schuette and he would like to see more communities follow suit.

“I think it is what our community would like us to do,” he said.

City officials in Ann Arbor passed a similar resolution Monday.

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