BOSTON, Mass. ─ In a statement released yesterday, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that the Commonwealth will recognize as valid for purposes of Massachusetts law the more than 1,300 marriages of same-sex couples that occurred in Utah following a federal court’s decision striking down that state’s marriage equality ban on December 20, 2013. Marriages were halted on January 6, 2014 by the United States Supreme Court pending the outcome of an appeal of the federal court decision. The Attorney General’s announcement is significant because the State of Utah has declined to recognize the marriages.
“MassEquality applauds Attorney General Coakley for her continuing leadership on marriage equality,” said MassEquality executive director Kara Coredini. “We extend our heartfelt congratulations and support to the more than 1,300 couples who have married in Utah and to the many more Utahans who are looking forward to the day when they also will marry in Utah. This chapter was already written in California, and we know how the story ends. Justice will prevail in Utah.”
Under Attorney General Coakley’s stewardship, the Commonwealth’s Attorney General’s Office has been a national leader on marriage equality, filing the Commonwealth’s landmark challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act in the nation’s first lawsuit striking it down. The Office also filed briefs in the Supreme Court marriage equality cases that declared DOMA unconstitutional and overturned California’s marriage ban.
MassEquality is the leading statewide grassroots advocacy organization working to ensure that everyone across Massachusetts can thrive from cradle to grave without discrimination and oppression based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
[From a News Release]
