LANSING, MI -- Michigan will extend spousal benefits to some 300 same same-sex couples who were wed on a single day last year when the state's gay marriage ban was temporarily lifted.

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced Wednesday that he will not appeal a federal injunction, set to take effect Thursday, requiring the state to recognize marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples on March 22.

"The judge has determined that same-sex couples were legally married on that day, and we will follow the law and extend state marriage benefits to those couples," Snyder said in a statement.

The legal recognition for those same-sex couples comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear challenges to gay marriage bans in Michigan and other states. Snyder welcomed that review.

"I know there are strong feelings on both sides of this issue, and it's vitally important for an expedient resolution that will allow people in Michigan, as well as other states, to move forward together on the other challenges we face," the governor said.

A federal judge initially struck down Michigan's gay marriage ban last year, leading several county clerks to open their doors the following day to issue marriage licenses to gay couples who lined up for the historic opportunity. Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency appeal, and the ban was quickly reinstated.

The same-sex couples who were married in March "acquired a status that state officials may not ignore absent some compelling interest," U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Goldsmith wrote last month as he issued his opinion and injunction. "...In these circumstances, what the state has joined together, it may not put asunder."

Michigan couples who are legally married can file joint income taxes, adopt children together, enjoy pension benefits and more.

In conjunction with the governor's decision not to appeal the federal injunction, spokesperson Dave Murray said Snyder sent word "to all cabinet members directing them to work within their departments to implement the change and extend all necessary benefits and legal recognitions" to the effected couples.

Marsha Caspar and Glenna DeJong of Lansing, two of the plaintiffs in the marriage recognition case brought by the ACLU of Michigan, were wed around 8 a.m. on March 22 and are believed to be the first legally-married gay couple in the state.

DeJong, speaking with MLive, said she was pleased by the governor's decision to recognize her marriage but noted that she and her wife are now part of "an exclusive 300 member club."

"We don't want to be a member of that club," she said. "We want to be part of an inclusive club that includes everybody, all the same-sex couples that want to get married. We've won this little battle, but now it's on to the larger battle before the Supreme Court."

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, who wed Caspar and DeJong in Mason, applauded Snyder for making what she called "the right decision" to recognize the marriages and afford "these couples the rights they deserve, like all other families under the law.

"This is a critical step forward in our fight to secure the freedom to marry for all Michiganders," Byrum said in a statement.

Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2004, but state and national polls suggest a changing mood in the electorate.

The nation's highest court will soon consider whether the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires states to license same-sex marriages or recognize those legally performed elsewhere.

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.