August wedding set for Detroit-area couple in gay marriage case

HAZEL PARK (AP) — Two Detroit-area nurses whose lawsuit erased Michigan’s ban on gay marriage will exchange vows in August.

April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse will be married on Aug. 22 in Southfield. Federal Judge Bernard Friedman, who struck down the gay-marriage ban, will officiate, as The Associated Press reported in June.

DeBoer and Rowse sued the state after they couldn’t jointly adopt each other’s children. That case grew into a challenge to a Michigan constitutional amendment that recognized marriage only between a man and a woman.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court said same-sex couples have a right to marry.

DeBoer says the wedding won’t be open to the public, although news reporters can watch the vows.

She says the invitation list has more than 200 names — and “still is building.”