Cambridge was set to open its doors to start processing license requests for same-sex couples at 12:01 AM EDT. It’s 12:15 AM now which means that as I type this the first licenses are being issued. There is a three-day waiting period but judges are expected to waive it for at least some of the couples. There will be legally married same-sex couples in the United States today.
I never thought, as I was discovering my sexuality a little over two decades ago, that I would see this day. Growing up when the face of “gay” was never seen without KS lesions on it, the idea of getting married seemed like it was foreclosed to me forever. After fits and starts in places like Hawaii and Alaska and coming amazingly close in Vermont, the day is here and there will be no going back.
My heartfelt congratulations and thanks to each of the couples involved in this historic and incredible achievement. Your courage took millions of Americans a step closer to becoming equal citizens under the law. We are not at full equality yet and who knows how long it will take to get there, but the move toward equality is inexorable.
To those who are opposed to SSM, this is not the thread for you. If you wish to voice your opposition, take it somewhere else.
20 years ago, nothing. I couldn’t have seen this coming even 5 years ago. I’m so excited for those couples, finally able to take their places as fully accepted members of society – at least in the eyes of the law. After all, isn’t equality under the law paramount in our justice system?
Even though I’m without a boyfriend, and even though my state has a DoMA law on the books, I know it won’t be forever until I can get married too. Next stop, federal recognition!
All of the very warmest and most heartfelt congratulations to our neighbours in Massachusetts, and especially to all those couples whose courageous legal struggles made this day possible!
This is a grand step towards the American ideal of equal justice under law.
I remember how I felt when I read the news that Ontario was getting same-sex marriage, and even more so, when I attended Quebec’s first same-sex marriage. So I can imagine how Queer people in Massachusetts and all across the US will feel when they read the news this morning.
About an hour ago when I realized that it was already the 17th, and that there were gay couples in Massachusetts at that very moment being legally married…I got a thrill down my back. We did it!
Yeah, I was there at Cambridge City Hall cheering couples on for several hours tonight. I didn’t make it there for the first ones, but I did stick around in the small group of people still there at the end. Two hundred sixty something couples got marriage licenses tonight. It was awesome.
I heard from other people there that a small contingent of Phelps fuckwads were there, but they left by about 12:05. I got there around 12:30, and saw not a single person protesting against gay marriage. Can there be a better sign that tolerance is winning than the fact that absolutely no-fucking-one was protesting the first issuance of gay marriage licences in this country for more than a few minutes, while several of us cheered on every single couple, for four hours.
I’d also like to mention the nice people in my vicinity that offered chocolate to every couple coming down the stairs. All in all a nice night, even if I do have to be up in three hours.
Not sure what was going on down at City Hall on Saturday night when we walked past, but there were lots of couples queueing, and what really made my night, no, not one single protester, and I know it’s really a silly thing to be happy about, but the building had a rainbow balloon arch over the entrance. Which made me happy because as tiny a gesture as it was, it did say here’s something we’re celebrating, not here’s something we’re tolerating, and to me that made all the difference. I wish that we got here sooner, I wish we were further along the road to civil rights for everyone, but I can still be happy to be in Massachusetts today.
I woke up to a cloudy sky and wet ground today and did my regular Monday morning 3 block walking commute to work. As I passed by the newstands and saw the headlines talking about gay marriage it really put me in a happy mood. I came out about 10 years ago and I am amazed how things have changed in that short time (and yeah, there’s still a ways to go).
A champagne toast to all of the new couples and a hearty thanks to those that sued to make this all possible.
Hey, save some of those warm fuzzies for us down here in DC! We’ve got gay and lesbian couples going to the DC Superior Court to demand license applications this afternoon. Big rally afterward, too. The mayor and the majority of the City Council support gay marriage, so we’ll see how it turns out - with any luck we’ll be right behind Massachusetts on this one.
On a more personal note, my uncle Richard has been with his partner Gary since I was a tad, and they live in Longmeadow, MA. I keep meaning to find out if they intended to get married and I hope they do.
A salute from a straight guy here. I’m really happy to see this happening! There’s been so much bad news lately. It’s nice to see a big event revolving around love rather than hate. Of course there will be those who will stew over this, but this is not their day.
I heard on the radio that the U.S. is only the fourth country to allow SSM. I know there will be more nations and states seeing the light in the future.
As soon as one of those happy couples is granted the USA’s first fully legal gay DIVORCE, then, and only then, will we know that we’re on our way to true equality
So if an MA-married couple can get a DOMA state to grant them a divorce, then does that mean that there’d now be a precedent in that state for the recognition of gay marriage?
There’ve been some cases like this already involving VT civilly-united couples. A Texas judge granted a couple a divorce, then the state AG intervened and the judge reversed himself. An Iowa judge signed a divorce decree for a couple, then changed it to a “dissolution.” A coalition of lawmakers intervened and the case is now before the state supreme court. In each case, the intervening parties did so on the basis that state law didn’t recognize civil unions and under the law of the state there was no marriage, thus the court could not grant a divorce or dissolution.
There was at least one case in New York which treated the survivor of a civilly united couple as spouses for purposes of standing to sue for wrongful death of the partner. New York’s AG, Elliot Spitzer, has also issued an advisory opinion that while SSM is not currently legal under NYS law, precedent would require the state to recgnize SSM from another jurisdiction. Spitzer took a little smack at MA gov Mitt Romney a week or so ago. Romney sent out letters to all the other states asking if SSM was legal there (MA has a law dating from 1913 forbidding out-of-state couples from marrying in MA if their home state won’t recognize the marriage; it dates from when MA allowed mixed-race marriage and other states didn’t). Spitzer sent a copy of the advisory opinion along with a terse little note explaining that it’s not the job of the New York AG to offer legal advice to governors of other states.
Wow. You guys went from the being the last Western, industrialized country to legalize gay sex nationwide last year, to being the fourth to grant gay marriage. You guys don’t do anything in half-measures, do you?
You want a real legal mess, wait until the first bisexual guy leaves his boyfriend, goes from Massachussets to a state with DOMA, and then marries his new girlfriend…
Bumping this thread to post this. The MA Senate has overwhelmingly voted to overturn the residency requirement for marriage in MA. It’s likely to pass the House as well, only to be stopped by a certain veto from Gov. Romney. Although the law won’t end up repealed as a result of this action, it’s nice to see a governmental body try to do the right thing.