Massachusetts Marriage Ruling, at Legislature's Request, Makes Clear That Same-Sex Couples Will Marry This Spring, Lambda Legal Says

(New York, February 4, 2004) - Lambda Legal issued the following statement today, as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified its ruling late last year that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates the Massachusetts Constitution’s guarantee that all citizens be treated equally under the law. (Lambda Legal, along with other civil rights groups, filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; New England-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders represented the seven couples in the case.)

“Lesbian and gay people are not being treated equally as long as we are denied full marriage equality, and Massachusetts’ highest court made that clear again today.

“Within a few months, same-sex couples in Massachusetts will begin getting married. They will be able to visit their spouses in the hospital, make decisions about each other’s health care and be fully recognized as parents of their children. Anti-gay groups may proceed ahead in efforts to amend the state’s Constitution to carve out an exception to the time-honored guarantee of equality. As that debate moves forward, people will see same-sex couples who are legally married - and they will see that in seeking to protect their families, these married couples pose no threat to society.

“We are grateful that, in requesting this clarification, the Massachusetts Senate recognized that courts are charged with interpreting constitutions and laws. The Massachusetts high court is not a political arena. Our nation’s founders created a system for legislatures and elected officials to create laws and for courts to ensure that these laws are fair and reflect basic principles of fairness. Public opinion on marriage equality is evolving every day, but our courts must always stay above politics and be an arena that any group can turn to when its constitutional rights are not being respected. This is not just a good day for gay people in Massachusetts - it’s an important moment for everyone in Massachusetts and elsewhere who believes in basic fairness.”

David Buckel is the Director of Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project. He is the lead attorney in Lambda Legal’s ongoing lawsuit in New Jersey state court seeking marriage licenses for same-sex couples in New Jersey. Lambda Legal won the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in June that struck down Texas’s anti-gay sodomy law and established fundamental privacy rights for lesbian and gay relationships.

### Contact: Lisa Hardaway, 212/809-8585 ext. 266;
Fred Shank, 212/809-8585 ext. 267