FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 12, 2002

Court to Hear Case Seeking Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Massachusetts Court to Hear Case Seeking Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

New England’s Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) today will argue a case seeking marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples.  The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. before Judge Thomas Connolly in Courtroom 4 on the 12th floor of Suffolk Superior Court.  The suit was originally filed in April, 2001 on behalf of seven couples from five counties across the Commonwealth.

Both GLAD and the Attorney General’s office, which is defending the law, agree that no facts are in dispute and the case can therefore be resolved as a matter of law with no trial.  At the hearing, 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.

“These couples want to marry for many of the same reasons that any couple who falls in love wants to marry,” commented Jennifer Levi, GLAD Senior Staff Attorney who will argue the case in court.  “Marriage is a legal relationship and a social status that is universally understood.  These couples ask simply that the Commonwealth fulfill the state constitution’s guarantees of equal treatment and not single out gay and lesbian couples by denying them alone access to civil 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 young sons; and Robert Compton and David Wilson of Boston, who are each parents of grown children.  David is also the grandfather of four grandchildren.

The Plaintiff couples and their attorneys will be available for comment on the case after argument outside in the foyer of the 12th floor of the courthouse.