Gay Marriage: A New Era

GWEN IFILL:

Now, a historic day in Massachusetts for same-sex couples. Spencer Michels has the story.

SPENCER MICHELS:

Hillary and Julie Goodridge waited 17 years for this day…

HILLARY GOODRIDGE:

I Hillary, take you, Julie.

SPENCER MICHELS:

…To become one of the first gay and lesbian couples to be married in Massachusetts. Today, the bay state became the first in the nation to recognize same-sex marriages.

Two years ago, the Goodridges, who live in Boston with their 8-year-old daughter, Annie, joined six other gay and lesbian couples and sued the state of Massachusetts for the right to marry. They claimed they were being discriminated against and denied equal protection under the state's constitution because they were refused a marriage license.

But today the Goodridges and hundreds of others had their marriage licenses approved …

SPOKESPERSON:

By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…

SPENCER MICHELS:

…and began exchanging vows.

SPOKESPERSON:

…you may seal this marriage with a kiss.

SPENCER MICHELS:

Just before their wedding, the Goodridges spoke on good morning America about how some might react to same-sex newlyweds.

JULIE GOODRIDGE:

When they see these couples and they understand, these people have been together, you know, over a decade in most cases, everybody will just get a grip and come to terms with the whole process.

SPENCER MICHELS:

Last July in a NewsHour interview, Hillary Goodridge talked about why marriage was so important to the couple.

HILLARY GOODRIDGE:

If either of us dies, becomes disabled, it's all things mostly that happen when you're older or things none of us want to think about– but disability, death, bad things, accidents– it's in those times that you realize, "I have no relationship to this person."

If Julie were to die, it's possible that I would have to sell the house because I would have to pay tax on the inheritance, which most spouses would not have to do, and we have a child to protect.

SPENCER MICHELS:

The weddings in Massachusetts are the result of a 4-3 ruling by the state supreme court last November allowing same-sex marriages starting today. That decision spurred the Massachusetts' legislature in March to pass a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and a woman. Voters must approve the amendment, but it won't be on the ballot until at least November 2006.

The controversy in Massachusetts has thrust the state into the center of a national debate. Thousands of gay couples were married earlier this year in San Francisco. There were also same-sex weddings in smaller numbers in individual towns in New York, Oregon and New Mexico. But the marriages were not legally recognized by those states.

Meanwhile, at least 38 states and the federal government have approved laws or amendments banning gay marriage. In Massachusetts, opponents of gay marriage gathered at a rally on Friday, but few were on hand today. They had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt today's weddings but were unsuccessful.

RON CREWS, Massachusetts Family Institute:

It is a day of mourning for sure. Because of the impact on our society and our culture, I believe that there will be continuing concern over this issue.

SPENCER MICHELS:

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney also opposes gay marriages. He's invoked a 1913 law barring out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their home states won't recognize the union. The law was originally intended to prevent interracial marriages. But town clerks in Provincetown, a gay-friendly beach resort on Cape Cod, and in at least three other cities said they would defy the law.

In Provincetown, celebrations were under way early this morning. Businesses there and elsewhere in the state have reported that same-sex marriages have economic benefits.

KEITH BERGMAN, Town Manager:

There are more shops open this early in the season than in recent memory. Lots of restaurants and other venues have many bookings for weddings this month and next month.

SPENCER MICHELS:

For Provincetown, that amounts to $2 million to $3 million a year. Meanwhile today, President Bush renewed his call for a constitutional amendment effectively banning gay marriage, something he had proposed in February.