CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
We need your help
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.
A lawsuit filed Monday by a conservative group seeks to block the Ann Arbor, Mich., Public School District from providing insurance benefits to same-sex couples, an option offered in its employee contracts. The Thomas More Law Center, which wants to stop tax money from supporting those benefits, claims that the district's policy is an attempt to institutionalize same-sex marriage. But backers of such policies say they ensure equal compensation among employees. The civil suit, filed in Washtenaw County circuit court, says the district's contracts violate a 1996 Michigan law that defines marriage as "inherently a unique relationship between a man and a woman" and makes same-sex marriages invalid in the state. "The school district's transparent effort to circumvent Michigan's law defining marriage is unlawful and all the more unfortunate because these funds should be used to serve the legitimate needs of the district's students," Patrick T. Gillen, associate counsel with the law center, said in a statement. District spokeswoman Liz Margolis said she couldn't comment on specifics of the lawsuit, since the district hadn't reviewed it. She said she doesn't know how many of the district's approximately 3,000 employees use the benefits. Jeffrey Montgomery, executive director of gay rights group Triangle Foundation, said the district extends benefits to same-sex couples not to legitimize same-sex marriage but because those couples are prohibited from being married. "What they're institutionalizing is fairness and equality and equal compensation for equal work," Montgomery said. "I think that fair pay for work is a pretty bedrock value for the people of Michigan and the people of this country."
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Watch Now: Pride Today
Latest Stories
Louisiana Medicaid quietly stops reimbursing patients for gender-affirming care
July 11 2025 3:35 PM
Harvard seemingly caves to Trump, shuts down LGBTQ+ and women's center websites
July 11 2025 3:08 PM
11 lesbian & sapphic reality dating shows & where to watch them
July 11 2025 12:49 PM
Yes, Superman is an immigrant. He's also a gay icon.
July 11 2025 12:31 PM
15 best LGBTQ-friendly all-inclusive resorts for honeymoons
July 11 2025 12:29 PM
Trump's DOJ subpoenas doctors and medical clinics that care for transgender youth
July 11 2025 9:36 AM
True
After trans people, Trump now erases bisexual people from Stonewall National Monument
July 10 2025 10:45 PM
Black trans woman Dream Johnson killed in Washington, D.C.
July 10 2025 7:59 PM