February 21, 2007

GLAD Applauds RI Attorney General for Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages

GLAD Applauds Rhode Island Attorney General for Strong Statement Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages

In response to a request from the state’s Commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch issued a six-page legal opinion saying that the state will recognize marriages between couples of the same sex performed in Massachusetts.

“It’s terrific news for state employees who will receive the same benefits and protections for their families as their straight co-workers who married in Massachusetts or elsewhere.  It’s our hope and expectation that other Rhode Island employers will follow suit,” said Michele Granda, staff attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

Granda was lead attorney in the Massachusetts lawsuit, Cote-Whitacre v. Department of Public Health, which made it possible for Rhode Island same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts starting in October of 2006.

“We applaud Attorney General Lynch for refusing to make a “gay exception” to well-established principles of law,” said Granda. “His leadership on this issue brings peace of mind to married couples and clear direction to their employers.”

Attorney General Lynch’s February 20 letter states:

It is our opinion based on all of the foregoing that whether based on Full Faith and Credit or on principles of Comity, Rhode Island will recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in Massachusetts as marriage in Rhode Island.  Therefore, we advise the Board of Governors that it should accord marital status to its employees who were lawfully married in Massachusetts under the ruling of that state’s highest court in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.

Wendy Becker, who was a plaintiff in Cote-Whitacre, is a state employee who will be directly affected by the opinion.  She and her partner, Mary Norton, married in Massachusetts on October 8, 2006.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status.  GLAD is active in all six New England states.