BOSTON – Elated and in some cases incredulous at making history, gays and lesbians by the dozens exchanged vows and were pronounced “partners for life” Monday as Massachusetts became the first state to let same-sex couples marry.
The nuptials ranged from quick city hall ceremonies to ornate weddings in downtown Boston churches, complete with champagne and fancy cakes. Among the touches: matching orange bow ties, rainbow flags and confetti, the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus singing “Marry Us,” and a special rendition of “Here Come the Brides.”
“When everybody wakes up tomorrow and sees nothing bad happened – it’s the same world it was the day before, there are only more people that are equal to them – they’re going to see there was nothing to fear,” Sheldon Goldstein said after obtaining a marriage license.
Fewer than a half-dozen countries allow same-sex couples to marry. The Netherlands, Belgium and Canada’s three most populous provinces are among the only places in the world where gays can wed.
Only a few protesters bothered to show up in Massachusetts, but some conservative leaders expressed outrage and President Bush renewed his call for Congress to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages nationwide.
“The documents being issued all across Massachusetts may say ‘marriage license’ at the top but they are really death certificates for the institution of marriage,” said James Dobson, founder of the conservative Christian lobbying group Focus on the Family.
For all the jubilation, the hundreds of couples who received licenses still confront uncertainty, perhaps lasting years.
Massachusetts lawmakers have taken initial steps toward letting voters decide in 2006 whether to ban same-sex marriages and instead define such partnerships as civil unions. It is not known how the marriages that occur between now and 2006 will be recognized if the ban occurs.
And even though the proposed federal amendment is considered a long shot, many states are trying to ensure – in the face of expected lawsuits – that they will not have to recognize gay marriages from Massachusetts or any other state.
Among the first to marry, under a rainbow flag at a Boston church with the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, were Robert Compton and David Wilson. They were one of the seven couples whose lawsuit prompted the state high court to rule in favor of gay marriage in its landmark November decision.
Robyn Ochs, who wept with joy while marrying partner Peg Preble in Brookline, said the idea that their marriage might be overturned “makes me nauseous.”
“But that’s not something I want to think about today, because today is a day for love and happiness and wonderful things,” she said. “It’s not a day for thinking about hateful people or people that don’t get it.”
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