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Mass. Legislature Repeals Discriminatory Law, Upholds Freedom to Marry for Out-Of-State Same-Sex Couples
Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts just signed a law, effective immediately, which upholds marriage equality for same-sex couples from outside of Massachusetts to get married in MA. Both houses of the state legislature overwhelmingly voted in favor of the law which repealed a discriminatory law from 1913 that had blocked such marriages.
"The 1913 law is outdated and discriminatory; repealing it is the right thing to do," Patrick said in a statement Tuesday after the House passed the bill.
Couples traveling to Massachusetts should still be aware of their home state's marriage laws, which will determine whether or not their marriages are fully honored.
Quote of the Week
"I think there is every reason why we should defeat it. But no one can be cavalier. No one can be complacent. No one can be sanguine about it. It will take everything we have. People will have to write the biggest checks they've ever written, devote more volunteer hours than they ever have, have more difficult conversations than they've ever had for 90 days. For 90 days we have to give it everything."
—Kate Kendell, on California's Prop. 8
Wolfson discusses what's to come with fairness in California in a two part series in EDGE Boston: "The influence that this [California] decision will have in helping Americans to see families helped and no one hurt couldn't be bigger." (This Williams Institute report finds that same-sex couples prefer marriage over civil unions or domestic partnerships, and want and use new legal statuses. (pdf link)
People For the American Way is leading the effort to reverse the Census Bureau's decision to not count marriages by lesbian or gay couples in the 2010 census. Their Press Release reveals Census Bureau's Own Research Staff Demonstrated That Airbrushing Out Same-Sex Marriages Distorts Data. Sign the petition here!
In a Joint Advisory with national gay rights legal and advocacy organizations,Freedom to Marry counsels couples getting married in California that there are many ways to work to see your marriage respected and win the freedom to marry nationwide, and one way -- filing ill-timed lawsuits -- that can have more negative consequences. (pdf advisory)
The Voices of Equality Program is a national high profile strategic speakers bureau and media ambassadors program that seeks to advance messages of marriage equality through prominent civic leaders to targeted populations. The Voices of Equality Program consists of a 2-person team that will include program management, talent booking, and media advocacy functions.
