Gay rights leap forward as Massachetts be the state of wedd bliss | World news | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY RIGHTS LEAP FORWARD AS MASSACHETTS BE THE STATE OF WEDD BLISS
• REFLECTG ON MASSACHETTS' HISTORIC GAY RIGHTS LG, 15 YEARS LATER: ANALYSIS
• MASSACHETTS PERFORMS FIRST GAY MARRIAG
• MASSACHUSETTS GIVES NEW PUSH TO GAY MARRIAGE

GAY RIGHTS LEAP FORWARD AS MASSACHETTS BE THE STATE OF WEDD BLISS

SOURCE: “WHY MARRIAGE MATTERS: AMERICA, EQUALITY, AND GAY PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO MARRY, ” BY EVAN WOLFSON (2004).

REFLECTG ON MASSACHETTS' HISTORIC GAY RIGHTS LG, 15 YEARS LATER: ANALYSIS

The road to marriage equaly began April 2001 when Gay and Lbian Advot and Defenrs, a nonprof group of attorneys that works on LBGTQIA+ issu, started a su agast the Massachetts Department of Public Health on behalf of seven gay and lbian upl who had been nied marriage licens. Michelle Johnson and Myrna Greenfield joed dozens of other same-sex upl to be married the night gay marriage was legalized Massachetts.

MASSACHETTS PERFORMS FIRST GAY MARRIAG

“I have been really pleasantly surprised at how differently people treat you when you're officially married and how eager and willg people have been to wele gay people to the fold, ” said Myrna Greenfield, Johnson’s wife. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSAME-SEX MARRIAGE: THE OVERVIEWMay 18, 2004Correctn AppendHundreds of gay and lbian upl streamed to cy halls om Boston to the Berkshir on Monday as Massachetts beme the first state to allow same-sex marriag. ''Gay rights advot hailed this day, which fell on the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court cisn Brown v.

It was unclear how many same-sex upl sought licens here Monday, but at least 900 upl showed up 29 of the state's 351 ci and towns, acrdg to town clerks and the office of the secretary of the were small monstratns by opponents of gay marriage -- and mera crews om a natnal nservative anizatn, the Fay Rearch Council, gathered imag to e anti-gay marriage the seeds of a full-fledged nflict were planted on Monday by sr of out-of-state upl who me to Massachetts to apply for marriage licens spe Gov.

''Here e the bris, so gay wh pri, isn't a wonr that they somehow survived, '' sang the guts at the weddg of the lead platiffs, Julie and Hillary Goodridge, who wore Armani pantsus and assigned their 8-year-old dghter Annie to be rg bearer and flower girl. In ral Rehoboth, home of a state reprentative who sponsored a nstutnal amendment to ban gay marriage, the town clerk said one uple had lled at 8 a. M., but the office was not yet open and they apparently went Drkwe of Rehoboth, who said he works a liquor store, said he was ''embarrassed'' that the state legalized gay marriage.

MASSACHUSETTS GIVES NEW PUSH TO GAY MARRIAGE

''I believe that a man and a woman are meant to f together, physilly and emotnal, '' he Boston, where large crowds of gay marriage supporters cheered each same-sex uple as they left Cy Hall, a small group of opponents om Washgton, D. Julie Goodridge, left, and her partner Hillary, platiffs the Massachetts gay marriage lawsu, speak to reporters Wednday. (CNN) -- Unrsrg s origal lg last November, Massachetts' hight urt said Wednday that only full marriage rights for gay upl, not civil unns, would nform to the state's nstutn.

In his State of the Unn addrs January 20, the print stopped short of endorsg a nstutnal amendment that would ban marriag for gay and lbian upl, as social nservative groups had hoped. Wednday's advisory opn by the Massachetts urt was rponse to a requt om that state's Senate about whether allowg gays to jo civil unns would be sufficient. In November, the Massachetts high urt cleared the way for lbian and gay upl the state to marry, lg 4-3 that monwealth attorneys "failed to intify any nstutnally aquate reason" to ny them the right.

The state Senate then asked the urt whether the monwealth uld satisfy s nstutnal ncerns by grantg civil unns to gays and lbians, but forbiddg them om obtag civil marriage licens.

The November lg Massachetts, as well as the grantg of marriag to gay upl Canada, set off a bate the Uned Stat and among the Democratic printial ndidat. Last year, California's State Assembly passed a domtic partnership law to provi siar benefs, but that law stops short of allowg gays to marry.

Several other stat have granted limed marriage benefs to gays but lled them domtic partnerships. The mood is ftive and celebratory as Massachetts gay upl le up to fill out marriage license paperwork. CAMBRIDGE, Massachetts (CNN) -- The champagne is chilled, the k are osted, and gay and lbian upl across Massachetts are ready to make history Monday by sayg "I do.

"To have the hight urt the state affirm your right to be a fay was wonrful, and jt gave you urage, " said Marcia Hams, who mped out ont of Cambridge Cy Hall on Sunday wh her bri-to-be, San Shepherd, to be the first le to apply for a marriage ci and towns the Bay State, cludg Cambridge, cid to open their licensg offic Sunday night so they uld beg handg out same-sex marriage applitns after midnight, when they bee the stroke of midnight, thoands of people broke to cheers as cy clerks Cambridge issued the first marriage license applitns to to gay and lbian and Shepherd were the first uple to fill out the crowd around Cambridge Cy Hall began throwg rice and sgg "The Star-Spangled Banner" as upl streamed through the ont door and to the clerk's male uple rried a sign readg "49 years together" wh pictur of their children and grandchildren on the the applitns are hand, upl will eher have to wa three days, or seek a waiver of the wag perd om a judge, before they n get a license to marry. The cisn on whether to grant a waiver is up to each dividual same-sex marriag Monday will mark a tone the gay rights movement, the culmatn of more than a of legal challeng across the untry to laws limg marriage to upl of the oppose social nservativ, too, have been galvanized by the specter of same-sex marriag, anizg support of a feral nstutnal amendment outlawg the practice, as well as amendments a number of stat that would stop other urts om followg Massachetts' issue has also bee fodr for the printial race. But while Bh favors amendg the Constutn, Kerry is opposed and says he supports civil unns for gay and lbian further fuel to the ntroversy is the fact that the natn's first same-sex marriag will take place Kerry's home show that a majory of Amerins oppose lettg gay and lbian upl legally marry.

It layed the effective date of the cisn until Monday, to give the Legislature the opportuny to change the Legislature stead passed a nstutnal amendment that would overturn the urt's cisn, prohibg same-sex marriag but allowg civil unns for gay and lbian upl.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Legislature, which March passed a proposed amendment to the state nstutn that would ban gay marriag but legalize Vermont-style civil unns, will aga take up the proposed amendment the 2005-06 ssn. WASHINGTON: Republins Congrs may seek a vote the g months on a proposed nstutnal amendment to ban gay marriage natnwi. THE STATES: At least six stat will have ems on their ballots this fall proposg to amend their state nstutns to strengthen existg bans on gay marriage and specify that gay marriag om other stat would not be regnized.

THE COURTS: Lawsus have been filed several stat on behalf of gays seekg the right to marry, and more lawsus are likely to arise on behalf of upl married Massachetts who want their unns regnized elsewhere. In addn, a feral appeals urt will hold a hearg June on the Massachetts high urt lg legalizg gay marriag. BOSTON, Massachetts (CNN) -- Massachetts fed a new chapter civil rights history Monday as same-sex upl began exchangg weddg vows, markg the first time a state has granted gays and lbians the right to upl filled Boston's Cy Hall to receive marriage licens, Print Bh reissued what he termed an "urgent" ll for such marriag to be banned unr the Constutn.

He lled on urt clerks to ask same-sex upl to state that they eher live Massachetts or tend to live the state orr to receive a clerks refed, and out-of-state upl were expected to mount legal challeng to the 1913 Alliance for Marriage, which has anized ralli opposg same-sex marriage, had said earlier would not prott Bonto, an attorney wh Gay and Lbian Advot and Defenrs, lled Monday a "historic day" durg which rights were extend.

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMay 17, 2004Agast a backdrop of whoops and cheers and a party that spilled onto the streets, gay and lbian upl here began fillg out applitns for marriage licens at 12:01 a.