April DeBoer And Jayne Rowse, Michigan Lesbian Couple, Battle State's Marriage And Adoption Laws

Source: AP/Huffington Post

A Detroit area-based lesbian couple currently battling Michigan's ban on adoption by unmarried couples will go one step further by entering the local fight for same-sex marriage.

As The Detroit News is reporting, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse -- who earlier this year filed a civil rights lawsuit to change their state's law barring same-sex couples from adopting -- announced plans to amend their complaint during a Sept. 7 news conference. They are now challenging Gov. Richard Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard Jr. to declare Michigan's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, in addition to asking for the right to adopt as a same-sex couple, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The couple told local reporters that the sole motivation was their three children.

"Lots of things could happen if we don't protect their rights," DeBoer is quoted by the News as saying. "For Jayne and I, this fight is and always will be about the rights and protections of our children. It has never been about our rights."

video from today's news conference: