Gays throughout the United States are awaiting how the U.S. Supreme Court would tackle the challenge raised by lesbian Michigan nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse. A landmark decision by the high court could possibly make same-sex marriages legal not only in Michigan but also in the remaining 49 states.

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Ahead of the court session, supporters of the pro- and anti-gay marriage were camped outside the high court in the hope they would be allowed inside the court to listen to the deliberations. The vigil was not just in the capitol but also in Lansing on Monday night when about 100 pro-gay marriage supporters gathered in front of the statehouse.

Besides the Michigan case, the high court would also hear the cases from Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, although it was only DeBoer and Rowse's case that went on trial. The initial court challenge raised by the two was Michigan's regulations that ban them from adopting each other's special-needs children.

They later amended the lawsuit before the federal court to include Michigan's prohibition against same-sex marriage approved by state voters in 2004.

The state's voter-approved amendment defined marriage only between a male and a female, which Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette defended but U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman declared in 2014 the ban unconstitutional.

However, the U.S. 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals eventually upheld the prohibition.

The 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals decision led to the Supreme Court case which has 32 plaintiffs made up of couples, widows and a two-year-old child.

With previous lower courts and Supreme Court decisions focused on the kids' role in families and the impact of same-sex marriage prohibitions, Amherst College American government professor Martha Umphrey sees the Michigan case likely gaining the sympathy of high court justices.

"Whenever you have a situation in which you don't have a legally protected two-parent family, children are more at risk if something (bad) happens," Detroit News quotes Umphrey. "Here, you have kids who were special needs, the parents are two nurses and I think the implication is they know how to take care of people and are not irresponsible."

All eyes would be on the Supreme Court as it seeks to answer the questions if the 14^th Amendment mandate states to license same-sex marriages and if states would be required to recognize such marriages performed in other states.

Tagsgay marriage, same sex marriage, LGBT, U.S. Supreme Court, April DeBoer, Jayne Rowse