Out In The Mountains : News - Exclusion Appeal in MA High Court

Exclusion Appeal in Massachusetts High Court

       Boston, MA – Bobbi and Sandi Coté-Whitacre were back in court last month trying to save their marriage – from state officials who wanted to exclude them from the marriage equality granted to Massachusetts residents by the Supreme Judicial Court, effective May 17, 2004.
       Nineteen months after it was filed, the high court was hearing arguments on an "emergency" appeal filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of eight out-of-state same-sex couples whose Massachusetts marriages were nullified by the state. The state relied on the application of a 1913 law preventing out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if they were unable to legally marry in their home states.
        There were actually two petitions, one from the couples and one from a group of town clerks who claimed the state was requiring them to discriminate against such couples.
        "It was a long hour, I'll tell you," said Bobbi Coté-Whitacre, referring to the time in the courtroom. "But at least I feel like we had a fair hearing." Bobbi said the couples' attorney, Michele Granda of GLAD, had 10 minutes to make their case and answer questions, the clerks' attorney had 10 minutes, and the Massachusetts Attorney General had 20 minutes for its side of the argument.
        The Vermont couple, whose name is first among the list of appellants, agreed that they were surprised the case came up so quickly. "This has moved remarkably fast," said Sandi.
The attorney general's argument, she reported, focused on the potential backlash against the state if out-of-state same-sex couples were allowed to marry under Massachusetts law. He presented only two examples of cases to which the exclusionary law had been applied, one in 1936 and another in 1973. "That bodes well for us, and we're in the same court that ruled on Goodridge," Sandi added.
       The two women traveled to Massachusetts a day ahead of the hearing and stayed the weekend in the same hotel, in the same room they had when they were married in Provincetown.
       A ruling, which at best would return the case to a lower court, is expected in three to four months.