FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 21, 2002

GLAD Appeals Marriage Case For Same-Sex Couples

Today, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) appealed from a trial court ruling denying marriage licenses to seven same-sex couples who challenged Massachusetts laws that deny them the fundamental right to marry.  On May 9, the trial court dismissed the couples’ case despite acknowledging the importance of the status and the legal protections that marriage provides.

“We believe we have a strong case on appeal.  Despite sharing the same love and commitment as their non-gay neighbors, Hillary and Julie Goodridge cannot provide the same security for their family because they are not allowed to marry.  That’s unfair and the state can provide no justification for it,” remarked Jennifer Levi, senior staff attorney at GLAD and co-counsel in the case.

On appeal, GLAD will argue:

• That civil marriage is a fundamental right under the state constitution that is rendered meaningless if you cannot marry the person you love;
• That denying civil marriage to gay and lesbian citizens of the Commonwealth violates their right to equal treatment based on sex and sexual orientation;
• That the state can offer no justification for the exclusion for same-sex couples from the institution of marriage, nor from its attendant benefits and protections.

The case was originally filed on behalf of the plaintiff couples, who live in 5 different counties throughout the Commonwealth, in April, 2001, and was argued before Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Connolly on March 12, 2002.

Other plaintiff couples in the case are: Michael Horgan and Ed Balmelli of Boston, who are both from large families in Central Massachusetts; Maureen Brodoff and Ellen Wade of Newton who have a 12-year-old daughter; Gloria Bailey and Linda Davies of Orleans who have been a couple for 30 years; Richard Linnell and Gary Chalmers of Northbridge who are the parents of an eight-year-old daughter; Gina Smith and Heidi Norton of Western Massachusetts who are the parents of two young sons; and Robert Compton and David Wilson of Boston, who are each parents of grown children.  David is also the grandfather of four.