Court Asked to Let Michigan Gay Marriages Resume

Attorneys who persuaded a judge to overturn Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage are asking a higher court to reject an indefinite stay while the case is appealed by the state attorney general.

In a court filing Tuesday, attorneys for two Detroit-area nurses say the appeals court shouldn't intervene yet because the state failed to first ask federal Judge Bernard Friedman for a stay.

Separately, they say a suspension of Friedman's decision is inappropriate because the state of Michigan is unlikely to win an appeal in the long run.

The judge last week struck down a 2004 constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and a woman. Friedman says it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Hundreds of couples were married before the appeals court temporarily froze the decision Saturday.