MA Attorney General Maura Healey
By: Christine Nicco/TRT Reporter—
BOSTON, Mass.—Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is serious about marriage equality nationwide. With such a task in mind, the Attorney General is asking same-sex couples from Massachusetts to help to make her “case to the U.S. Supreme Court that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry everywhere in America!”
“We’re in the process of writing a brief and we hope to include your stories,” Attorney Healey said via her office’s Facebook page. Healey is “asking for either written or video testimonials” to be posted on that FB page from February 17th – March 4th “to “help us make our case!”
What you can do to help
Some questions that could assist people willing to submit their story are:
- How has marriage equality changed your life?
- What would it mean for your family to have marriage equality across the country?
- How have you felt when you’ve visited or moved to states which don’t recognize same-sex marriage?
- Did you choose not to enroll at a school or take a job because the state doesn’t have marriage equality?
When sharing your stories and ideas use the hashtag #MA4Equality. According to Healey, if “we need to reach you directly about your story we will follow up individually.”
Massachusetts at the forefront of marriage equality
In a historic opinion on November 18, 2003, GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders), won a ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), that gay and lesbian couples could no longer be excluded from civil marriage rights in Massachusetts. GLAD filed the case in April 2001. Couples started marrying 180 days after the Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health decision.
In May 17, 2004, same-sex marriages began in Massachusetts. The commonwealth was the first in the nation to allow same-sex marriage.
The historic High Court’s Role
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider cases that could help them overturn gay marriage bans in four states. If they concur, marriage equality will become the law of the land. Same-sex marriages are currently allowed in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
