11/29/2004: The Florida-based Liberty Counsel told the Supreme Court today that the US Constitution should "protect the citizens of Massachusetts from their own state supreme court's usurpation of power." The court was asked to overturn last year's decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that legalized gay marriage. Without stating their reasons, the Justices declined to hear the case. The decision was a victory for states' rights to regulate marriage, rather than involving the federal government. If the federal government were to rule that same-sex marriage is or should be legal, it is likely that they would be legalized in all states.

Lambda Legal says, "The bottom line is that nobody is being harmed by the Massachusetts state law (that legalized same-sex marriage)... For more than six months, same-sex couples in Massachusetts have been getting married, and nobody else's marriage has been affected." The Human Rights Campaign said, "Massachusetts can continue to treat all of its citizens equally." (Anyone who has seen how segregated Greater Boston is might disagree that all "citizens" are treated equally) Out-of-state couples still cannot marry in Massachusetts. It is expected that same-sex marriage will likely come before voters in a referendum of sorts in a 2006 election.
Past Indybay coverage of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.