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from Parenting & Family
Massachusetts Begins Issuing
Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples
May 21, 2004 - The state of Massachusetts, in compliance with a court order,
began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on May 17, 2004.
The Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion in November, 2003, that the
Massachusetts state constitution mandated equal protection for gay couples to
marry. The court ordered the legislature to come up with a way of implementing
its order for gay marriage or an alternative.
In late March, 2004, the legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment
defining marriage as a one-man, one-woman union, but also added "civil unions"
for gays, which provides the legal benefits of marriage but without using the
word "marriage." The amendment must be passed in two consecutive legislative
sessions before going on the ballot in 2006.
Conservative groups have failed in their attempts to get the court to put a stay
on its ruling until the people of Massachusetts have had a chance to vote on
whether or not they want gay marriage legalized.
Several legal groups, including the Liberty Counsel
and the American Center for
Law and Justice, have filed legal briefs against the court's decision. Both have
argued that the court overstepped its constitutional boundaries by redefining
marriage when the state constitution gives this power to the legislature and to
the governor of the state.
A grassroots organization called the Article 8 Alliance is currently working to
call for the removal of the four Supreme Judicial Court justices who issued the
4-3 November ruling. The Article 8 Alliance is urging the state legislature to
implement Article 8 of the Massachusetts constitution, that calls for a "bill of
address" to remove judges who have abused their positions of power.
According to news reports, homosexual activists from outside the state of
Massachusetts plan to get married there, return to their home states, and file
lawsuits challenging state laws banning gay marriage. Several homosexual couples
from Tennessee, for example, have returned to the state and have suggested that
they will soon file a lawsuit challenging Tennessee's Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) passed in 1996. On May 19, 2004, the Tennessee State Senate passed an
amendment that bans same-sex marriages, but it must survive two consecutive
legislative sessions before it is voted upon by the people in 2006.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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