Celebrating four years of same-sex marriage
Tom Lang (at left), Scott Morris, Andres Apperson, Liz Sherry, John Hosty-Grinnell and Raymond Grinnell all held the sign today.
By Globe Staff
Gay rights activists stood on the steps of the Statehouse today holding a sign commemorating the fourth anniversary of the day that same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts.
The anniversary is actually Saturday, said Tom Lang, co-director of knowthyneighbor.org, but the activists wanted to get their message out on a weekday while the Legislature was around.
Lang said it will also be the fourth anniversary of his own marriage to Alex Westerhoff.
“We do this every year to commemorate and thank Massachusetts on our anniversary. We stand all day with the sign. It’s the same sign; we just change the number,” he said.
Lang said he was heartened by the California Supreme Court ruling yesterday that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
“What happened in California gives us hope that maybe America will be America for gay people,” he said.
But opponents today began revving up their efforts, saying they would push for a constitutional amendment in California barring same-sex marriage.
Battle-worn activists on both sides of the issue in Massachusetts say they expect the state to be in the spotlight again as Californians debate the issue, the Globe reported today.
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which opposes same-sex marriage, said Saturday would be “a sad reminder that the citizens of Massachusetts have never been afforded the opportunity to vote on the definition of marriage.”
Mineau’s group has been unable to get enough support in the Legislature for a proposal banning same-sex marriage to be placed on the ballot.
Mineau said the primary purpose of marriage is “the procreation and the nurturing of children. ... Marriage is about a man and a woman.”
