Ann Arbor celebrates one-year anniversary of same-sex marriage decision

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) - It was one year ago on Sunday that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States.

In the past year, the plaintiffs in the case, Hazel Park couple April and Jayne Deboer-Rowse got married and were finally able to jointly adopt five children.

"We're happy to be back to our lives and back with our kids and doing the major thing which is parenting our children - and we're just proud of what we've done over the past year," said April Deboer-Rowse.

The couple said they're just enjoying their happy family.

"We are now legally parents to everybody has made a big difference and taken a weight off of our mind that should something unfortunate happen to us that we are protected," Jayne Deboer-Rowse said.

Their children are protected -- they have two legal parents -- it's what they were fighting for all along. On Sunday they were celebrating along with so many others in Ann Arbor's Braun Court, where so many were celebrating last year at this time.

"I've had the wonderful pleasure of marrying many, many same sex couples over the course of this past year and it's been an incredible time," Ann Arbor May Christopher Taylor said.

The LGBT community is still fighting for equal protection in the workplace, housing, and many are still in mourning after the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

"We are still thinking about Orlando and we are standing tall and we're standing with them every time we come out and we publicly announce and acknowledge who we are," said Kerene Moore, vice president of the Jim Toy Center. "They are us - we are them. We're celebrating how far we've come but at the same time we are standing up because we know there's still a lot of work to do."