Massachusetts Performs First Legal Gay Marriages

Ahhh, love. Isn’t it grand? Have I mentioned recently that I expect my whole family to vote Democrat this year??

Via Reuters:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) – Two women were among the first gay couples to be legally married on Monday and hundreds more waited for their turn to make history as Massachusetts became the only U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage.

Marcia Kadish, 56, and Tanya McCloskey, 52, who have been partners for 18 years, were married by Cambridge City Clerk Margaret Drury shortly after 9 a.m. EDT.

“Now by the power vested in me by the state of Massachusetts as a justice of the peace, and most of all by the power of your own love, I now pronounce you married under the laws of Massachusetts,” Drury said. “You may seal this marriage with a kiss.” The couple embraced.

The election-year milestone, which is likely to fuel legal and political battles nationwide, made Kadish, a human resources employee, swoon. “I feel all tingly and wonderful. So much love, can’t you see it is just bursting out of me?”

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Massachusetts Court: Gays have access to equal marriage rights

Wow, I spoke too soon; Democrats won’t be able to dodge this as a campaign issue no matter what. The Massachusetts Supreme Court just decided that civil unions were not enough and only full marriage rights for gay people would be acceptable under Massachusetts law, meaning that gay people may be able to get married there as early as May.

Which means that the religious right will begin pushing the U.S. Constitutional amendment to ban equal marriage rights for gay people into high gear starting today.

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Massachusetts strikes down ban on equal marriage rights for gay people

The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the ban on equal marriage rights for gay people was unconstituational, but didn’t go so far as to grant marriage licenses to the gay couples who filed the suit. Instead, it sent the issue back to the Massachusetts legislature, who will have 180 days to remedy the inequality of the law. What will probably happen is what happened in Vermont; a civil union law will be created that guarantees the protections of a marriage, without having the same status as marriage. So basically, we get out own water fountains and bathrooms.

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