Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Same-sex marriage in the U.S state of Massachusetts became legal on May 17, 2004.
The first applications for marriage licenses for same-sex couples were issued at the Cambridge City Hall. Gay couples formed long lines in anticipation, some of whom waited outside the City Hall all evening May 16. Beginning at 12:01 A.M on the 17th, they were permitted to fill out their "Notices of Intent to Marry": the first to file were Marcia Hams and Susan Shepherd. Other cities and towns in Massachusetts began issuing applications later in the morning, during business hours.
Massachusetts normally has a three-day waiting period before issuing marriage licenses, but many couples obtained waivers of the waiting period in order to be wed on May 17. Among these were the seven couples who were party to the lawsuit that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage, including Julie Goodridge and Hillary Goodridge, who were the first to apply for a license in Boston and whose eight-year old daughter Annie was their ringbearer and flower girl at their wedding at the Unitarian Universalist Association of Boston.
(The parties to Goodridge et al. v. Department of Public Health were Gloria Bailey and Linda Davies; Maureen Brodoff and Ellen Wade; Hillary Goodridge and Julie Goodridge; Gary Chalmers and Richard Linnell; Heidi Norton and Gina Smith; Michael Horgan and David Balmelli; and David Wilson and Robert Compton.)
Cambridge took in 227 applications overnight; Provincetown took in 113; more than 1,000 applications were made on the first day statewide. Two-thirds of applicants were women, and one-half of the applicants had been partners for more than a decade. 40% of the female couples had children in their homes.
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