Case
On April 11, 2001, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) sued the Massachusetts Department of Health in Superior Court on behalf of seven same-sex couples, all residents of Massachusetts, who had been denied marriage licenses in March and April 2001. All the plaintiffs had been in long-term relationships with their partners and had several children. The Department's responsibilities included setting policies under which city and town clerks issue marriage licenses. The Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Department on May 7, 2002, and the plaintiffs appealed directly to the Supreme Judicial Court.
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly argued in his brief that the Court should defer to the Legislature's judgment of "the broader public interest" and recognize "same-sex couples cannot procreate on their own and therefore cannot accomplish the 'main object'...of marriage as historically understood."
Read more about this topic: Goodridge V. Department Of Public Health
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