Judge won’t order Michigan to recognize dying man’s same-sex marriage

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge has refused to grant a dying man and his partner state recognition of their marriage ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans.

Bruce Morgan, who has an inoperable brain cancer, and his partner Brian Merucci married in New York in 2013. But since they were married out-of-state, their same-sex marriage is not recognized by the state of Michigan.

Their attorney, Stephanie Myott, says Morgan “may not have much time left.”

WOOD-TV reports the couple filed a lawsuit against the state in an effort to fast track their marriage to legal status.

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Federal Judge Gordon Quist said Tuesday he’s not “unsympathetic” to Bruce Morgan’s health. But he says the case, filed last June, must remain on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

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The lawsuit was asking for the couple’s marriage to be recognized like the other 300 same-sex couples who were married in Michigan within a brief window in March 2014. However, Gov. Snyder argued that their situation was different since they weren’t actually married in Michigan.

WOOD-TV has more: