Share your reaction to the gay marriage decision
Massachusetts's highest court ruled 4-3 that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution, but stopped short of allowing marriage licenses to be issued to the seven couples who challenged the law. The court ordered the Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days. What are your thoughts on the issue?
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This is a victory for anyone who believes in the sanctity of human rights! But the fight is not even close to being over. If the religious right wing is concerned about the sanctity of marriage, they should concentrate on the 52% of the hetorosexual marriages that fail, and many others that are not giving loving, nurturing homes to their children. As far as the catholic church goes, O'Malley and company should be concentrating on why for over 50 years their "organization" has perpetrated terrible acts towards children in their trust, and not blame homosexuals for all their failures. Thank you! -Steve from Brockton
Steve , Brockton
I am very cautious to rush to any dramatic reaction because this all becomes moot if (1) The state only gets to civil unions because the full benefits of marriage are not included and all you have to do is go to Vermont, a neighboring state, for one of those making this no big deal AND (2) Any vote for full marriage would see plenty of dissent in the Legislature, plus Romney said he would veto any measure for gay marriage, now he has 6 months to wet his veto stamp. I think the South End should probably settle down before society starts declaring this Stonewall II.
Michael , Somerville, MA
I really don't know what all the flap is about gays being married. They live together as a couple ,like hetros do and have the same , some may think , better, loving relationships. Allowing them to legally bind their realtionship is a natural loving thing to want to do. I have a number of Gay freinds who live a amrried couple and as I observe the relationship it is no different than my Hetro couple freinds. Bye the way I am in my 60's and not gay, yet my view may be considered "out of step" with my age group. But I strongly believe it.
Paul, Northborough
Hallelujah! Everyone in the Commonwealth should have the same rights and responsibilities when it comes to marriage, regardless of their sexual orientation, which is nobody's business but their own.
Jennifer, West Peabody
As an author of one of the amicus briefs supporting the plaintiff's right to marry, I applaud the majority's ruling and concur with their general approach. The fact that same-sex couples have historically been excluded does not mean that they must forever be excluded from equality under the law. As guardians of the oldest living Consitution in the world with a storied history of protecting liberties, the Court has preserved the Commonwealth's long-standing committment to principles of equality and human dignity. The Commonwealth failed to artucluate a rtational basis for upholding the government's exclusion of same-sex couples from the legal status of marriage. It is important to note, however, that the Court's ruling does not impair any individual's religious exercise. Clergy, churches and faiths have not ever been required to perfrom marriages that they do not themselves sanction, and this ruling does not disturb those strongly held religious beliefs or practices. Appropriately, the very Constitution that includes the right of same-sex couples to marry also preserves the right of religious persons and institutions to exercise their beliefs.
Lisa , formerly Somerville / currently Springfield, VT
I think this is wonderful and exciting. It only gives same-sex couples, who are good, decent, patriotic, and tax-paying members of the community, what everyone else has - the right to marry the person they love. As the decision points out, this right has been denied only because of the prejudices of the majority. The Court rightly notes that such prejudices can not be used to tyrannize a minority group.
Drew , Boston
I think that this decision was commendable and correct. While one may not necesarily agree or be comfortable with a certain lifestyle, it does not give them the right to stifle it. Just as one person's right to swing his fist ends when that fist contacts another, so too does a person's right to opinion and belief end when it represses the natural choice of others.
James, Boston
I think this is great!!! Let's take a moment to ponder the following: Why is it that all minorities have had to, and continue to, fight tooth and nail just to receive the rights that all white males have been enjoying since the conception of the constitution? Example, women's right to vote, people of color to be free from slavery, women's right to own property, people of color the right to vote, people of two different "races" the right to marry, women's right to control her own body, people of color the right to obtain rank in the military, the list goes on and on. The answer to the above question is prejudice against anyone is different. People who are prejudice are just insecure about themselves. Please, let us put a stop to such prejudice.
Denis , Malden
This is a great day for freedom in America! I congratulate the people of Massachusetts. It will be a hard decsion for some people to accept, but so too was freeing the slaves, allowing people of different races to marry, allowing blacks to drink out of the same drinking fountain as whites, and so forth. As history has taught us that the more people are allowed their freedom and equality the better off our society has become. Its hard to believe that we've had the freedom to carry firearms, but sadly only recently have we slowly gained the freedom to love who we want. Again thanks to the citizens of Massachusetts for providing a place where freedom and equality truly exist. I can't wait to visit your state!
Todd, Boulder
I am hoping that this will ultimately lead to the same situation as Vermont, with civil unions. Though I believe that one day, marriage will be a possibility for same-sex couples, it is not now. One thing we must be wary of is winning the battle, but losing the war for same-sex marriage. I believe that overall, public opinion is still not on our side and that pushing this too strongly, especially in an election year, can cause a backlash of public opinion against all the progress we have seen in the courts over the last year.
Carlos , Cambridge
