Massive gay and lesbian wedding planned for Michigan's Capitol steps

LANSING – On June 12, nearly a month after the first legal U.S. marriage of a same-sex couple in Massachusetts, more than 300 gay and lesbian couples from Michigan will exchange vows on the steps of the State Capitol Building. The massive wedding has been a part of the statewide LGBT Pride events for the past 10 years. Organizers say this year's ceremony will carry a more urgent message.
"The Capitol Commitment Ceremony has always been a form of protest. By being excluded from the right to marry gay and lesbian families continue to be at risk, existing in a loophole of the law while systematically being denied thousands of legal benefits of marriage taken for granted by heterosexual couples," said Michigan Pride Co-Chair Dawn Broderick. "This year, with the first state sanctioned gay marriages in Massachusetts, the ceremony on June 12 has a much deeper meaning."
Michigan's legislature, noted Broderick, has already turned down an amendment to the State's Constitution that would have prohibited the marriages of gay and lesbians from being recognized in the Great Lakes State. That bill failed to obtain the necessary votes last fall. Currently, though, there are efforts by anti-gay activists to collect enough signatures to force the issue onto the ballot.
The Capitol steps wedding is sponsored by Michigan Pride, with support from the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project of Ann Arbor and ministers from throughout Michigan. Registration for the Capitol Wedding is free and can be completed at www.michiganpride.org or during the statewide LGBT Civil Rights Rally, which takes place on the Capitol immediately before the wedding.