A federal judge Monday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two lesbians that challenges a state ban on adoption by unmarried couples, Robert Snell reports in The Detroit News.
The order by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman comes five days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that has prevented married gay couples from receiving tax, health and retirement benefits that are usually available to married couples.
Friedman, according to the News, cited last week’s Supreme Court ruling in which justices expressed concern that discriminatory legislation relegates same-sex relationships to a second-tier status and impairs the rights of tens of thousands of children being raised by same-sex couples.
“This is exactly the type of harm plaintiffs seek to remedy in this case,” Friedman wrote in Monday’s filing in federal court in Detroit. “Plaintiffs are entitled to their day in court and they shall have it.”
Friedman scheduled a hearing July 10, when he is expected to set a trial date.
“It’s good news for us, but it’s a narrow ruling,” the couple’s lawyer, Carole Stanyar, told The News. “We’ll see where else he wants us to go July 10.”
