As one Republican lawmaker in Michigan hashed out his proposal to condemn same-sex marriage during a news conference Tuesday, Michigan’s first openly gay state senator stared him down – and then took the mic.
Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) stated the day before on X that he would propose a resolution requesting the United States Supreme Court to repeal its 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, along with 12 Republican cosponsors. But by Tuesday afternoon, Schriver said that number had shrunk to six supporters, and Michigan’s Speaker of the House, a fellow Republican, declared the resolution would not make it out of committee, which is legislative language for “dead on arrival.”
When Schriver refused to accept questions about the resolution at his own press conference in Lansing, Jeremy Moss, Michigan’s first openly homosexual state senator, stepped in to talk to reporters. The motion is “buffoonish” and certainly falls flat with Michigan residents who support the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which established the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry.
“I think that people respect their LGBTQ neighbors, their LGBTQ family members. These marriages have been the law of the land for 10 years,” said Moss (D-Southfield), who was elected to Michigan’s state legislature in 2014. “This is just another hateful and harmful attack against the LGBTQ community and I don’t think people in Michigan are going to stand for it.”
However, Schriver was adamant at the start of his news conference that his resolution has widespread support in Michigan, claiming without evidence that same-sex marriage has harmed Michigan’s family structures.
“The American legal tradition based on natural law, the will of the people and constitutional originalism upholds marriage as a union between a man and a woman,” Schriver said. “Any deviation from this definition undermines the legal and moral foundation of this republic.”
Obergefell’s fortitude has been questioned in the past, most notably by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who argued in a concurring opinion in 2022 as the constitutional right to abortion was overturned that the nation’s highest court should also review other historical rulings, including the right to same-sex marriages.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) announced at his own news conference on Tuesday that Schriver’s resolution will not leave the committee to be voted on, and that the subject of same-sex marriage does not unite the House Republican Caucus.
“I would say a lot of Republicans disagree with Rep. Schriver on the issue, and so what we’re trying to do is focus on issues that unify our caucus and bring people together, and those are the issues that we’re moving forward and putting on our agenda,” Hall said. Those issues include improving the state’s educational system and repairing Michigan’s roads without raising taxes.
Michigan residents care about having a safe place to live and access to inexpensive groceries and health care, not reversing marriage equality. Rep. Mike McFall (D-Hazel Park) remarked during a news conference earlier in the day on Tuesday. McFall, who was joined by the majority of the Michigan House Democratic Caucus, stated that Democrats are ready to solve these genuine challenges for Michigan people, supporting working families and successful communities as they grow the state.
McFall and State Rep. Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor), both married homosexual men, hosted the news conference, which denounced Schriver’s proposal and any future efforts to abolish LGBTQ Michiganders’ rights.
Morgan said it doesn’t matter that Schriver’s resolution, which if enacted would have no power to modify the law, is going nowhere. It is a “ridiculous distraction” from the actual difficulties that Michiganders confront, diverting time and resources away from assisting Michigan families.
“Hate plays the long game, so we have to as well. This may be a resolution today, but it’s a long term effort to try and overturn our rights,” Morgan said. “So whether those rights are overturned today or tomorrow, we are not going to stop fighting to protect these rights and to protect the people behind them.”
