Massachusetts Couples Seek Right to Marry

Seven gay and lesbian couples inMassachusetts filed suit on April 11 seeking the right to marry. Each couple hadpreviously been denied marriage licenses at their city or town halls.

New England’s Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) filed thesuit on behalf of the couples in Suffolk Superior Court. The defendant is theMassachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

The seven couples have been in committed relationships between five and 30 years.Four of the couples have young children, while others have faced health crises.All are concerned about providing the security for each other and their familiesthat automatically comes with marriage – and is not available to them. Manyof the couples want to be married in order to make a statement to their familiesand friends about the commitment of their relationships.

Hillary and Julie Goodridge, one of the seven couples, have been committedpartners for several years. In anticipation of the birth of their daughter,Annie, they both changed their last names to Hillary’s grandmother’smaiden name. Annie is now five years old.

Hillary Goodridge spoke with OITM by phone and said that having Anniecaused her and Julie to look at a lot of scenarios and legal situations. Inspite of the legal precautions they took, they realized that they and Annie stillwould not be fully protected, she said.

“We followed the Vermont situation with interest, how it unfolded and whatthe couples went through,” said Goodridge. “Vermont brought the issuesclose to home – how absurd it is that gay and lesbian couples can’t getmarried.”

Hillary is the director of the Unitarian Universalist Church funding program, andJulie has her own investment advisory firm that specializes in sociallyresponsible investing. Both reside in Boston.

Another of the seven couples, David Wilson and Robert Compton, also from Boston,had a commitment ceremony in October 2000 that left many of their friendsironically believing that they then had all the rights and benefits of marriage.

Wilson and Compton both said the Vermont civil union case was “a stepforward and a ray of hope.” They said the Vermont Supreme Court’sruling was “full of humanity.”

“The ruling in Vermont created a feel of optimism that people are willing tolook at us as human beings,” said Compton. “The same thing couldhappen in Massachusetts.”

Compton said he was cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the suit.Recognizing that it is a passionate issue with many people, Compton stressed thatthey were seeking only the benefits and protections afforded by marriage, not“holy marriage” itself. He said he hopes that people in Massachusettswill understand the difference.

The other couples named as plaintiffs in the suit are: Michael Horgan and EdBalmelli of Boston; Maureen Brodoff and Ellen Wade of Newton, who have a12-year-old daughter; Gloria Bailey and Linda Davies of Orleans, who have been acouple for 30 years; Richard Linnell and Gary Chalmers of Northbridge, who arethe parents of an eight-year-old daughter; Heidi Norton and Gina Smith ofNorthampton, who have two young sons; and Robert Compton and David Wilson ofBoston, each parents of grown children, and Wilson a grandfather of four.

The organization representing the plaintiffs, GLAD, has played a leading role inthe struggle for the freedom to marry and work with many grassroots freedom tomarry organizations. They also are willing to assist same-sex couples throughoutNew England to fulfill the promise of equality that now exists inVermont.