In a historic ruling that provided a huge morale boost to the gay-rights movement, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman Friday struck down Michigan�s ban on same-sex marriage, making it the 18th state in the nation to allow gays and lesbians to join in matrimony, just like their heterosexual counterparts. 
 
 Just hours later, Washtenaw, Muskegon and Oakland counties announced they�ll open their clerk�s offices to issue marriage licenses on Saturday. 
 
 �Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage,� Friedman wrote in his 31-page ruling. �Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law.� 
 
 ■ PDF: Read the judge�s ruling on gay marriage 
 
 ■ Related: Questions, answers on today�s ruling 
 
 Friedman, who declared Michigan�s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, went a step further than other judges across the country who have made similar decisions. 
 
 Friedman did not stay his ruling. 
 
 That prompted Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to file an emergency stay request to prevent gay couples from marrying right away. That includes the two plaintiffs in the case: Hazel Park nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who fought for the right to marry and adopt each other�s special needs children. 
 
 �It�s just amazing,� said DeBoer, who wiped tears and hugged her partner after learning of Friedman�s ruling. �This is what we�ve wanted for our family and families like ours �we are just so happy ... We got our day in court and we won.� 
 
 Rowse was overwhelmed. 
 
 �We�re going to actually be a legalized family, a recognized family by everybody,� she said. 
 
 In his 31-page ruling, Friedman heavily criticized the state�s position that the will of the voters should have been upheld, noting that just because voters approve something doesn�t make it right, especially when it violates the Constitution. 
 
 �In attempting to define this case as a challenge to �the will of the people,� state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people. 
 
 �No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples,� Friedman wrote. 
 
 �It is the court�s fervent hope that these children will grow up to �understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.� 
 
 �Today�s decision is a step in that direction, and affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.� 
 
 Schuette, meanwhile, vowed to continue to fight to uphold the Michigan Marriage Amendment Act, which 2.7 million voters approved in 2004 when they decided that marriage can only be defined as a union between a man and a woman. 
 
 �In 2004, the citizens of Michigan recognized that diversity in parenting is best for kids and families because moms and dads are not interchangeable. Michigan voters enshrined that decision in our state constitution, and their will should stand and be respected,� Schuette said following today�s ruling. 
 
 Schuette said he expects the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will grant his request for a stay, noting the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in Utah�s gay-marriage case and granted that state�s request for a stay. 
 
 The state has long argued that the will of the voters should not be drowned out by a single judge. The state also argues that it has a �legitimate� interest in preserving the traditional family structure because � it claims � children thrive best when raised by married moms and dads. 
 
 Friedman, though, sided with the plaintiffs. 
 
 For DeBoer and Rowse, the case did not start out about marriage rights but about adoption rights. The two women want to adopt each others�s children � two preschool-age boys and a 4-year-old girl � but can�t because Michigan doesn�t allow same-sex couple adoptions. 
 
 Now, if Friedman�s ruling stands, they can get married and adopt each other�s children. 
 
 Unlike most federal judges who have taken up the gay-marriage issue, Friedman opted last fall to hold a trial and give both sides the chance to present their arguments and scientific evidence. 
 
 The state�s experts said that their studies show that children of same-sex couples have poorer outcomes than kids raised by married moms and dads. 
 
 Friedman didn�t find the state�s experts credible, stating in his ruling that the testimony of one state witness was �entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration.� He said the state�s four witnesses �clearly represent a fringe viewpoint that is rejected by the vast majority of their colleagues across a variety of social science fields.� 
 
 Friedman, however, said he did find the plaintiffs� experts to be credible. They said their research showed that there were no real differences in the outcomes of children raised by same-sex couples compared with those raised by moms and dads. 
 
 The plaintiffs also argued that child outcomes should have nothing to do with the marriage issue anyway, because having kids isn�t a prerequisite for getting married. 
 
 Friedman agreed. 
 
 Meanwhile, legal experts believe the gay-marriage debate ultimately will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet issued a definitive ruling on same-sex marriage. 
 
 Dana Nessel, one of the lawyers for DeBoer and Rowse, said the patchwork of legislation involving same-sex marriage has led to chaos, specifically for same-sex couples who are legally recognized in one state but then move to another and have no legal recognition. It�s especially problematic come tax time, she said, noting same-sex couples, depending on where they live, have to file separately because their marriage isn�t recognized. 
 
 �This has to be resolved,� Nessel said. �This can�t continue. You can�t have this patchwork system anymore.� ||||| Detroit � A U.S. district judge has overturned Michigan�s bans on gay marriage and same-sex adoption, aligning the state with a growing number in which prohibitions have been challenged and overturned. 
 
 Judge Bernard Friedman�s decision came shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, when county clerks offices had already closed for the week. Couples seeking marriage licenses in many communities will need to wait until they reopen for business Monday. 
 
 But people in some counties, including Washtenaw, Oakland and Muskegon, will be allowed to marry today. Couples, including same-sex ones, wanting a marriage license have a chance to get one from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Washtenaw County building at 200 N. Main in Ann Arbor, Clerk Larry Kestenbaum said. 
 
 Guided by �strong urging� from county leaders, he said Friday night, the vital records office will open on a day it normally is closed for those seeking marriage licenses. 
 
 There are restrictions, though. The option is open only to pairs with at least one partner who resides in Washtenaw County and out-of-state couples who marry within its borders, Kestenbaum said. Michigan couples from outside the county must remain in their own jurisdictions, he said. 
 
 Normally, there�s a three-day waiting period for a license, with a $50 fee for those seeking a waiver for immediate processing, Kestenbaum said. But today, through a �fee holiday� arrangement by the county Board of Commissioners, it�s only 1 cent, he said. The cost to marry is $20 for local residents and $30 for others. 
 
 With a smaller staff agreeing to work today, Kestenbaum said he expected the county will be able to process about 60 marriage licenses. 
 
 �After 1 p.m., the staff will not be available,� the clerk said in a statement. �I apologize in advance to those we will have to turn away.� 
 
 Applicants will be issued a number on a first-come, first-served basis; however, same-sex couples issued a number at the office when trying to tie the knot last October are to be honored first, the clerk said. 
 
 Proper documents, including a birth certificate, are required. 
 
 Attorney General Bill Schuette immediately filed a challenge with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and asked the court to freeze Friedman�s ruling, which would prevent clerks from issuing licenses. 
 
 Michigan joins the states of Kentucky and Ohio, which also have gay marriage cases pending before the 6th Circuit Court. 
 
 In his 31-page written opinion, Friedman said the constitutional amendment known as the Michigan Marriage Act, passed by 2.7 million state voters in 2004, was unconstitutional because it denied gays and lesbians equal protection under the law. 
 
 Attorneys for the state of Michigan, a defendant in the case, contended voters passed the amendment banning gay marriage because they wanted to keep marriage only between a man and a woman. 
 
 The judge said the disapproval of same-sex marriages didn�t matter under the eyes of the law. 
 
 �Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage,� the judge wrote. �Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law.� 
 
 �Voters enshrined that decision in our Michigan Constitution and their will should stand and be respected. I�ll continue my duty to protect, defend the Constitution,� Schuette said. 
 
 Since December, bans on gay marriage have been overturned in Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, but appeals have put those cases on hold. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia issue licenses for same-sex marriage. 
 
 Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh said Friday night that if no stay is granted, her office would begin issuing marriage licenses Monday. 
 
 Making marriage plans 
 
 The ruling by Friedman stems from a lawsuit filed by Hazel Park nurses April DeBoer, 42, and Jayne Rowse, 49, who are living as a couple, raising three special-needs children they adopted as individuals. 
 
 Their lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the laws banning gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. 
 
 Surrounded by a crowd of about 100 people at the Affirmations, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender advocacy organization on West Nine Mile in Ferndale, DeBoer and Rowse were obviously moved by their victory. But their enthusiasm was tempered by the news that Schuette was seeking a stay. 
 
 �We are going to get married when we can stay married,� said DeBoer. �This is a happy day. We don�t want to speculate. We want to get married when we know our marriage is going to be forever binding. 
 
 �We did this for the protection of our children,� said DeBoer of their efforts to overturn the law banning same-sex couples from adoption. �We do want to get married, but this is about our children.� 
 
 Cheering the couple on at the news conference were Jeff Perdue, 36, and Edward Ewing, 48, a couple hoping to marry. They are planning a June wedding. 
 
 �We can get married,� said Ewing Friday holding Perdue�s hand. �It�s exciting when you can get married to the person you love.� 
 
 Perdue said the ruling and the right to marry makes him feel �we�re actually recognized as humans.� 
 
 Dana Nessel, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, called Friedman�s decision �an enormous victory and a fantastic ruling.� 
 
 �It means equality for thousands and thousands of families in Michigan,� she said. 
 
 But Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan and co-author of the constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage, issued a blistering response to the ruling. 
 
 �One Detroit lawyer in a black robe doesn�t have legitimate constitutional or moral authority to overturn either natural law or the vote of 2.7 million Michigan voters who placed the Marriage Protection Amendment in our state constitution,� Glenn said. 
 
 �This one political elitist put his own personal views above the will of the people, arrogantly ruling that all 2.7 million voters were �irrational� in their common sense belief that the ideal environment for every child is having both a mother and a father committed to each other and to their children in marriage. We support Attorney General Bill Schuette in his appeal to overturn this illegitimate decision that has at least temporarily stripped Michigan citizens of the full measure and impact of their voting rights.� 
 
 In a statement released for the Michigan Catholic Conference, Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron reacted to the ruling by reiterating the church�s opposition to same-sex marriage: �As I said with my brother bishops in Michigan, marriage has come to us as a gift of God in establishing the order of nature. The Catholic community in southeast Michigan will continue to give witness to the truth that marriage is between one man and one woman, which is the foundation for the flourishing of society.� 
 
 Attitudes changing 
 
 The judge�s ruling came after a nine-day trial that began Feb. 26 and focused heavily on testimony from scholars and researchers on opposing sides of the gay marriage debate. 
 
 The trial pitted pro-gay marriage psychologists and sociologists against marriage traditionalists. The testimony on both sides was heavily laden with statistical data and research methodology. 
 
 Experts who testified on behalf of DeBoer and Rowse said their research concludes there is no difference in children raised by same-sex parents than those raised by straight couples. 
 
 The court cases are being played out as gays and lesbian relationships gain more acceptance in the United States. According to 2013 Gallup Poll, 59 percent of Americans approved of same-sex relationships, up 19 percent since 2001. 
 
 And in Michigan those favorable attitudes toward gays and lesbians also continue to grow, according to 2014 Michigan State University�s State of the State Survey. 
 
 Nearly 59 percent of Michigan adults surveyed said they were in favor of adoption by gays and lesbians, while 33 percent said they were opposed. The study also found that social attitudes among African-Americans in Michigan toward gays and lesbians have changed, with 47 percent saying they approved of gays compared to 31 percent two years ago.
– A big court ruling this afternoon sets up Michigan to become the 18th state to allow gay marriage. A federal court judge struck down the state's 2004 ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, reports the Detroit Free Press. The judge sided with lesbian plaintiffs April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who want to marry and adopt each others' children. (All three are adopted kids with special needs.) The couple filed suit in 2012, and today's ruling also strikes down the state's ban on adoption by same-sex couples, reports the Detroit News. Unlike judges in similar cases, US District Judge Bernard Friedman did not stay his ruling pending appeal. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency request to have the ruling put on hold, and he's still awaiting a decision on that from the 6th Circuit Court. In the meantime, gay couples are free to wed. (Update: Some have begun doing so already.)