The national struggle for marriage equality took a small, quiet step forward on Sept. 29 when a Massachusetts judge ruled that local officials may issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian residents of Rhode Island.
The legal question hinged on a 1913 Massachusetts law that precludes issuing those licenses to out of state residents whose state prohibits that marriage. The matter has gone back and forth through levels of the courts, with plaintiffs being winnowed down to those from New York and Rhode Island.
Judge Thomas E. Connolly agreed that the New York Court of Appeals had resolved the issue in July 2006 when it ruled that state's law precluded same-sex marriage and was constitutional. Therefore Massachusetts could not issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple from New York.
The outcome was different for Rhode Island. 'No evidence was introduced before this Court of a constitutional amendment, statutes, or controlling appellate decisions from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage,' Connolly wrote.
Therefore, Massachusetts marriage licenses can be issued to gay and lesbian Rhode Islanders, most of whom live within a half hour of the neighboring state.
Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly told the Boston Globe he would not appeal the decision: 'Pursuing this matter furthering the courts would be a waste of time and resources.'
'At last, the fence of discrimination has been removed at the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island,' said Michele Granda, the attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders ( GLAD ) who represented the plaintiffs, Wendy Becker and Mary Norton.
The Providence couple have been together for 19 years and are raising two children. They first sought a marriage license in May 2004.
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch issued a statement saying, 'This ruling does not authorize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island and it does not mean that Rhode Island will recognize a same-sex marriage performed in Massachusetts … only the Rhode Island legislature or a Rhode Island Court can decide if a same-sex marriage is valid in Rhode Island.' Thus the matter is not yet legally resolved.
However, Lynch's 2004 legal opinion recommending that the state retirement system provide spousal benefits to the same-sex spouse of a Massachusetts retiree, and a GLAD case where a school district agreed to cover health benefits for the lesbian spouse of a retired teacher, have helped to create the legal foundation for recognizing gay and lesbian relationships.
While some have called for Rhode Island to ban same-sex marriage, there has been no significant movement in that direction. Legislation to allow gays to marry has been introduced and has gained momentum in the State House.
The political environment in Rhode Island is favorable to gay marriage. David N. Cicilline is gay and was elected mayor of Providence, the state's largest city, in 2002. He has won praise for reforming city government and will be reelected by a landslide in November.
Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee has publicly endorsed allowing gays to marry, something that his Democratic colleagues from the states of New York and California have not done.
