Massachusetts Moves Toward Marriage Equality

August 22, 2019

A pivotal moment in the fight for LGBT equality arrives when the U.S. Supreme Court decriminalizes homosexuality with its ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.

In Massachusetts, GLAD’s lead attorney Mary Bonauto argues the right to marry in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declares that the state may no longer deny same-sex couples “the benefits, protections, and obligations conferred by civil marriage” and gives the legislature 180 days to implement its decision.

Anticipating the anti-marriage backlash that would soon come in response to Massachusetts, Evan Wolfson creates the affirmative marriage campaign Freedom to Marry. The Gill Foundation will become one of its biggest funders as it helps win marriage equality nationwide.