Drastic Ruling Stems from 2004 Marriage Ballot Ban

On Wednesday, May 7, the Michigan Supreme Court handed down an astonishing 5-2 ruling, effectively banning domestic partner benefits for public employees. That would include university professors at the state run colleges, city employees in Kalamazoo or any other Michigan town, and anyone else who collects a paycheck from a Mitten State government.

This travesty emerged from the amendment passed in 2004, which stated pompously: “To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.” Leaving aside the ludicrous preliminaries, the text appeared to be a basic marriage ban. But two state courts have now deconstructed the words “similar union for any purpose” to embrace anything and...