Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts

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Same-sex marriage
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Performed statewide in
Massachusetts, USA (2004)
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Civil union
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Same-sex marriage timeline
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Image:CambridgeSameSexMarriage.jpg

Same-sex marriage in the U.S. state of Massachusetts became legal on May 17, 2004. It is the first and only state to make same-sex marriages legal.

The first applications for marriage licenses for same-sex couples were issued at City Hall in Cambridge. Gay couples formed long lines in anticipation, with some waiting outside the City Hall all evening May 16. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the May 17, they were permitted to fill out their Notices of Intent to Marry. The first to file were Marcia Hams and Susan Shepherd. Other cities and towns in Massachusetts began issuing applications later in the morning, during business hours.

Massachusetts normally has a three-day waiting period before issuing marriage licenses, but many couples obtained waivers of the waiting period in order to be wed on May 17. Among these were the seven couples who were party to the lawsuit that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage, including Julie Goodridge and Hillary Goodridge, who were the first to apply for a license in Boston and whose eight-year old daughter Annie was their ringbearer and flower girl at their wedding at the Unitarian Universalist Association of Boston.

The parties to Goodridge v. Department of Public Health were Gloria Bailey and Linda Davies; Maureen Brodoff and Ellen Wade; Hillary Goodridge and Julie Goodridge; Gary Chalmers and Richard Linnell; Heidi Norton and Gina Smith; Michael Horgan and David Balmelli; and David Wilson and Robert Compton.

Cambridge took in 227 applications overnight; Provincetown took in 113; more than 1,000 applications were made on the first day statewide. Two-thirds of applicants were women, and one-half of the applicants had been partners for more than a decade. Forty percent of the female couples had children in their homes.

Governor Mitt Romney launched the "superslate" campaign in 2004, based on the idea that the state Republican party could use same-sex marriage as a wedge issue and gain seats, spending millions of his own dollars and personally campaigning for Republican candidates in traditionally Democratic seats. Despite his efforts, the Republican party nonetheless lost seats in the 2004 election. Since then, many legislators have changed their views to reflect growing support for gay marriage among their constituents. One of the original sponsors of the amendment to ban gay marriage and legalize civil unions, Brian Lees, said, "Gay marriage has begun, and life has not changed for the citizens of the commonwealth, with the exception of those who can now marry." [1]

The future of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts is somewhat uncertain, as there is currently an effort to amend the state constitution in order to forbid it. In order to amend the state constitution, it is necessary for an amendment first to pass two state constitutional conventions (a joint session of the state general court (house of representatives and senate), before going before the voters in a referendum. An amendment that would forbid same-sex marriage, establish civil unions for same-sex couples conveying the same rights and responsibilites as marriage, and as convert existing same-sex marriages into civil unions passed the first constitutional convention but was defeated in the second. Many moderate legislators who had initally voted for the amendment abandoned it, and most legislators on the right elected to throw their support behind a new ballot initiative to ban both same-sex marriage and civil unions. This measure cannot legally appear on the ballot until at least 2008. [2]

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Timeline

May 7, 2002: Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Connolly issues an opinion in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health denying plaintiffs' statutory and constitutional claims for recognition of same-sex marriage. Relying on the history of Massachusetts marriage laws and constitutional provisions, Judge Connolly determined that the marriage statute was not gender-neutral and no fundamental right to same-sex marriage existed. He concluded by saying that the issue should be handled by the legislature.

November 18, 2003: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4 to 3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180 days to change the law. The court found that Massachusetts may not "deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry" because of a clause in the state's constitution that forbids "the creation of second-class citizens."

February 4, 2004: The court reiterates that only equal treatment in both rights and terminology is required. This means that either marriage must be allowed for gay couples (as opposed to civil unions) or all couples must have civil unions, with no state recognition of marriages.

February 11, 2004: A constitutional convention is convened to attempt to overturn the Supreme Court's decision. After six weeks marked by intense debate and tactical voting to prevent a more extreme measure, the state legislature narrowly passes an amendment 105-92 that would ban same-sex marriage but allow civil unions. To take effect, the amendment would also need to be approved by the legislature in 2005, then pass a popular vote in 2006.(Boston Globe article)

May 17, 2004: The Supreme Court's ruling went into effect, 180 days after it was issued. The city of Cambridge began processing applications at one minute past midnight, cheered on by a crowd of five thousand gathered outside City Hall. The first license was issued to Marcia Hams and Susan Shepherd. Massachusetts has a three-day waiting period after a marriage application has been issued, but couples can seek a judicial waiver of that requirement. (Boston Globe article) At least one marriage — that of Tanya McCloskey and Marcia Kadish, of the Boston suburb of Malden — was finalized by 9:15 a.m. on May 17. (Boston Globe article)

September 14, 2005: The second convention to amend the Commonwealth's Constitution to disallow same-sex marriage (but permit civil unions) was held, which would allow the issue to go to a popular vote in 2006. This time, the amendment was defeated soundly, 157-39, and thus will not be put before the voters. Supporters of the defeated act plan to introduce a new amendment that would ban same-sex marriage while not providing for civil unions. This amendment will need 50 votes in two successive constitutional conventions to make it on the ballot for 2008.

March 30, 2006: The Supreme Judicial Court upheld a 1913 Massachusetts law that prohibits non-residents from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would be void in their home state. It ruled that same-sex couples domiciled in other states that expressly prohibit same-sex marriage cannot legally marry in Massachusetts, and remanded cases from New York and Rhode Island to the Superior Court to determine whether same-sex marriage is prohibited in those states. [3]

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