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Interviews with news makers and discussion of topics important to Southwest Michigan. Subscribe to the podcast through Apple itunes and Google. Segments of interview are heard in WestSouthwest Brief during Morning Edition and All Things Considered

WSW: Waiting to See if Marriage Will be Recognized

Paul Sancya, The Associated Press

Since they first met in 1987, Karen Sanborn and Audrey Wierenga have been through a lot. 

Sanborn was pregnant when they met, she had planned to raise her son as a single parent. But when her and Wierenga started a relationship they started a long journey of navigating the legal system, trying to secure the same rights as a married couple. 

Karen Sanborn and Audrey Wierenga (who goes by Aud) will be part of a panel discussion on Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Portage. If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage they will enjoy the same legal rights they says many married couples take for granted. 

karenandaud020615-web.mp3
Interview with Karen Sanborn and Audrey Wierenga - web version

"We took our George W. Bush stimulus checks....and we went to Canada and got married."

Sanborn and Wierenga are married. They went to Canada in 2003 after same-sex marriage was legalized there. At the time $300 checks were being sent out to stimulate the economy. Wierenga jokes 

"We took our George W. Bush stimulus checks....and we went to Canada and got married." 

She says they never seriously considered moving to Canada, because Michigan is home, and their family is still here.  Their marriage is recognized by the federal government and would be recognized by any state that has legalized same-sex marriage. 

Credit WMUK
Audrey Wierenga (left) and Karen Sanborn

As their son Alex grew up, Wierenga had no legal relationship and was not considered a step-parent. When he was 14 (Alex is now 27) they went through a "second parent adoption." But that required some legal maneuvering. Sanborn says

"I had to give up my parental rights, and he became a ward of the court for two minutes." 

Sanborn knew it was just part of the process, but still:

"That was the hardest piece of paper though, here I was giving up the rights of my son to the court." 

"I had to give up my parental rights, and he became a ward of the court for two minutes."

Wierenga says legal arguments are what the U.S. Supreme Court has to consider in the same-sex marriage case. But she says, from a humanitarian standpoint, allowing same-sex marriage would also allow them to be "full participants" in society expectations and community. 

Sanborn says getting married in 2003 was important to her, but she says it also made her more angry that their marriage wasn't recognized by the state. Depending on what the U.S. Supreme Court decides, their marriage could soon mean the same the thing in Michigan as it does in Canada. 

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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