Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts began on May 17, 2004, as a result of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts constitution to allow only heterosexual couples to marry. Massachusetts became the sixth jurisdiction in the world (after the Netherlands, Belgium, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec) to legalize same-sex marriage. It was the first U.S. state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents married same-sex partners from having their marriage recognized by the federal government. In 2010, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held provisions of the Act to be unconstitutional. In May 2012, the First Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the ruling, finding DOMA unconstitutional. The Court stayed enforcement of its decision in anticipation of an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Read more about Same-sex Marriage In Massachusetts: History, Economic Impact, Public Opinion
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“The economic dependence of woman and her apparently indestructible illusion that marriage will release her from loneliness and work and worry are potent factors in immunizing her from common sense in dealing with men at work.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)