Happy anniversary, gay marriage!
It’s been quite the month of news about same-sex marriage with President Barack Obama’s declaration of support for the issue and North Carolina’s ban.
But the Bay State made historic news eight years ago today when it became the first state to allow same-sex couples to legally marry.
Today marks the day when same-sex couples could finally marry in Massachusetts after the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled a ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Since then, 18,462 same-sex marriages have taken place in Massachusetts, according to Department of Public Health numbers provided to the State House News Service. About 63 percent of those were female-female marriages.
“In the eight years that same-sex couples have been marrying in Massachusetts, we have learned that our communities are safer, happier, and healthier when all families are respected, supported and celebrated,” Kara Suffredini, executive director of MassEquality, said in a statement. “As time goes on and even larger majorities of Americans come to support marriage equality, we look forward to the day when all Americans can enjoy the freedom to marry.”
