Rhode Island Couple Wins Same-Sex Marriage Case

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - Same-sex couples who live in Rhode Island can marry in Massachusetts, a Superior Court judge here ruled on Friday.
The judge, Thomas E. Connolly, ruled that because Rhode Island did not prohibit same-sex marriage by statute or in its Constitution, same-sex couples were allowed to marry in Massachusetts under state law.
“No evidence was introduced before this court of a constitutional amendment, statute or controlling appellate decision from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage,” Judge Connolly ruled.
The Massachusetts attorney general, Thomas F. Reilly, said he would not appeal the ruling. Rhode Island’s attorney general, Patrick Lynch, said the marriages would not be valid in his state.
“This ruling does not authorize same-sex marriages in Rhode island, and it does not mean that Rhode Island will recognize a same-sex marriage performed in Massachusetts,” Mr. Lynch said in a statement. “Only the Rhode Island legislature or a Rhode Island court can decide if same-sex marriage is valid in Rhode Island.”
Same-sex marriage was legalized here in 2004. But until Friday, only residents could be granted marriage licenses because of a 1913 law that prohibited the state from performing marriages that were not legal in the couple’s home state. The state’s highest court upheld that law last year after same-sex couples from six states challenged it.
The court ruled that same-sex couples from Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire could not marry in Massachusetts because same-sex marriage was expressly prohibited by statute in those states.
The court left the door open for residents of New York and Rhode Island, but the New York State Court of Appeals ruled shortly after that that same-sex marriage was not allowed under state law. With Rhode Island being the only state with no express prohibition of same-sex marriage, two Providence residents, Wendy Becker and Mary Norton, appealed.
“After a very long engagement, we are thrilled to be able to marry and provide our family with the legal protection and social recognition we deserve,” Ms. Becker said Friday. “As the parents of two wonderful young children, our desire to marry has always been with them in mind. We want them to feel their family is as worthy as any other.”
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which argued the case, applauded the ruling.
“At last the fence of discrimination has been removed at the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island,” Michele Granda, the lawyer who argued the case, said in a statement. “Loving, committed Rhode Island couples can now affirm their relationships in the most public and respected way our society knows.”
from The New York Times