Rick Snyder in The Huffington Post

On Civil Rights: Recognize 300 gay marriages conducted in 2014

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) announced that the state will recognize some 300 same-sex marriages conducted in 2014. The governor faced a deadline to either appeal a recent ruling by a U.S. District Judge, or let stand the judge's injunction requiring Michigan to recognize the several hundred gay marriages conducted on March 22, 2014, when the state's ban on gay marriage was temporarily lifted.

"The judge has determined that same-sex couples were legally married on that day, and we will follow the law and extend state marriage benefits to those couples," Snyder said. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in January to take up the decision. The court's ruling, expected by June, could end the debate on gay marriage in the United States once and for all

Snyder called on his fellow Republicans in January to keep up efforts to end discrimination against LGBT individuals.

Source: Ashley Alman, Huffington Post, "Recognize 300 Gay Marriages" Feb 4, 2015

On Civil Rights: Add LGBT anti-discrimination to civil rights law

[While declining to appeal a court ruling that legalized] 300 same-sex marriages conducted in 2014, Gov. Snyder called on his fellow Republicans in January to keep up efforts to end discrimination against LGBT individuals by amending the state's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which protects citizens against discrimination based on race, age, sex and religion, but doesn't protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation. "Let's keep up that dialogue and let's show that we can deal with issues of discrimination in our state," he said during his fifth State of the State address.

However, that same month, Snyder remained silent as the state's attorney general argued for Michigan's gay marriage ban. The governor's own position on gay marriage has been described as "head-spinning."

Source: Huffington Post on 2015 Michigan State of the State address Feb 4, 2015

The above quotations are from Columns and news articles on the Huffington Post blog. Click here for other excerpts from Columns and news articles on the Huffington Post blog. Click here for other excerpts by Rick Snyder. Click here for a profile of Rick Snyder.
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