LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Public universities and state and local governments can't provide health insurance to the partners of gay employees without violating the state constitution, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
A three-judge panel said a 2004 voter-approved ban on gay marriage also applies to same-sex domestic partner benefits.
"The marriage amendment's plain language prohibits public employers from recognizing same-sex unions for any purpose," the court wrote.
The decision reverses a 2005 ruling from a county judge who said universities and government agencies could provide the benefits.
A constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in November 2004 made the union between a man and a woman the only agreement recognized as a marriage "or similar union for any purpose." Those six words led to the court fight over benefits for gay couples.
Gay couples and others had argued that the public intended to ban gay marriage but not block benefits for unmarried opposite sex or same-sex domestic partners.
The appeals court agreed with the Michigan attorney general, Republican Mike Cox, who said in a March 2005 opinion that same-sex benefits are not allowed in a state that does not recognize same-sex unions.
The legal challenge was mounted by 21 gay couples who work for the city of Kalamazoo, universities and the state.
"The protection of the institution of marriage is a long-standing public policy and tradition in the law of Michigan," Judges Kurtis Wilder, Joel Hoekstra and Brian Zahra noted In the unanimous ruling.
Jeffrey Montgomery, executive director of the Triangle Foundation, a leading gay and lesbian advocacy group in Michigan, said the legal sanctity of marriage was not in question.
"This ruling will result in families being robbed of their health care and other basic necessities that are fundamental to protecting their well being," he said.
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