GLAD attorney Michele Granda, who represented the Goodridge couples before the SJC, said, “The court has affirmed our view that no harm has befallen anyone in the Commonwealth as the result of same-sex couples marrying in the state. Goodridge is the law of the Commonwealth, and nothing has happened to change that. Same-sex couples can continue going about their business and accessing all of the benefits, protections, and rights of marriage.”

In its decision, the Court referred to the year since the Goodridge judgment went into effect, saying “Nothing has transpired in the interim that materially changes the situation or which warrants the truly extraordinary measures sought now.”

The Doyle case was one of numerous attempts to block the May 17, 2004 implementation of the Goodridge decision and the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It failed before a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court and then the full court denied both immediate relief and an expedited appeal. The oral arguments in the appeal before the full court took place on May 2, 2005.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England's leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression. GLAD filed and won the case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (November 2003), which ended marriage discrimination against same-sex couples in Massachusetts.

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