FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2001

GLAD Seeking Civil Marriage for Lesbian and Gay Couples

GLAD Files Suit in Massachusetts Seeking Civil Marriage for Lesbian and Gay Couples

Seven gay and lesbian couples from five counties throughout the Commonwealth, who were recently denied marriage licenses at their city or town halls, today filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court seeking the right to marry in Massachusetts. The plaintiff couples are represented by New England’s Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).  The defendant is the Department of Public Health (DPH) which has the ultimate responsibility for enforcing all state laws governing marriage and its licensing in municipalities.

“This case presents an historic opportunity for Massachusetts,” said Mary Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Director and co-counsel in the landmark Vermont marriage case.  “Marriage is a legal relationship and a social status understood everywhere.  Our Commonwealth now has the chance to recognize that same-sex couples—whose relationships are as loving and as committed as those of heterosexual couples—have an equal right to civil marriage.”

The seven Massachusetts couples have been in committed relationships between five and 30 years. Four of the couples have young children; others have faced health crises.  All are concerned about providing the security for each other and their families which automatically comes with marriage and is not available to them.  Many of the couples want marriage to make a statement to their families and others about the commitment of their relationship.

“Each of the couples in this case are part of the community,” said Bonauto. “They share a great deal in common with other families in Massachusetts. Some coach Little League.  Others volunteer at their churches or children’s schools.  Some participate in civic organizations.  Like any married couple, they have made a commitment to each other for life.  Yet, none of them can fully protect themselves, their relationship, or their children without marriage.”

The plaintiff couples in the case are:  Hillary and Julie Goodridge of Boston, who are the parents of a five-year-old daughter; 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; Heidi Norton and Gina Smith of Northampton who have two sons, four-years-old and one-year; and Robert Compton and David Wilson of Boston, who are each parents of grown children, and David is the grandfather of four.

The law assumes the married couple is bonded emotionally and financially, and provides a framework of protections and obligations for married couples and their children in their interactions with each other, with government agencies and programs, and with other people and institutions.  Some laws affect people on a day-to-day basis; others only come into play in times of hardship, illness or death.

Among The Protections Provided Through Civil Marriage Are The Following:

  * The law protects the confidential and intimate nature of the married relationship, including visitation rights in a hospital, an expectation of privacy in the relationship, and other privileges.

  * The law respects the family as an economic unit, offering a structure for obligations of support during and after a relationship; sharing of pensions even after the earner is deceased; access to social security; and numerous protections after death for a surviving spouse.

  * The law acknowledges the interdependence of family members in times of adversity, including family and medial leave rights, workers’ compensation dependency benefits, and benefits for children when a parent is unemployed.

  * The law helps create and maintain relationships between parents and children, including support obligations, child custody and visitation, step-parent adoption and assisted reproductive technology.

  * The law structures taxation provisions to meet critical family needs such as allowing spouses to transfer property in life and at death without tax consequences, filing joint income taxes, using marital tax rates and pooling tax exemptions, and receiving an unlimited marital deduction when a spouse dies.

  * The law anticipates issues of insurance relating to family members’ health, illness and death, including the purchase of joint insurance policies.

  * The law recognizes that injury to one family member injures all family members by providing claims for wrongful death, loss of companionship of spouse or children, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

  * The law protects family members at times of illness and death, including hospital visitation privileges, priority in medical decision-making for an incapacitated spouse, and matters relating to burial.