Effective immediately, the new bill repeals the 1913 law that banned couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union was not legal in their home state. Governor Deval Patrick, who signed the bill, said he was proud to have supported it, and that “equal means equal.”
The article has a quote from a couple that lives in Middletown, NY which is the town right next to mine:
“We’re being recognized as a married couple,” said Joy Spring, of Middletown, N.Y., who planned to marry her partner of seven years, Carla Barbano, in Provincetown on Friday.
Their 11-year-old daughter, Lizzy, will exchange rings with the couple at the wedding.
“It’s extremely important,” Spring said. “If something happened to one of us she’d always be taken care of.”
Gov signs bill to let out-of-state gay couples marry - BostonHerald.com.
Just two days after his daughter Katherine came out publicly, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick marched in Boston’s Gay Pride Parade this past Saturday.
Here’s an AP quote via Towleroad:
“On Saturday, the Patrick family was greeted with boisterous cheers and applause as they marched to the end of the route in City Hall Plaza. ‘It’s been a nice day,’ Patrick said after the parade. The Patricks marched with friends in front of a group from the AIDS Action Committee and behind a float carrying male dancers clad in bikini bottoms.
Thousands lined the parade route, which began in the South End and included all manner of gay pride groups, from car clubs, to softball teams, to union workers.
Several spectators expressed their support for Katherine Patrick. ‘I think she’s represents a generation of us out there, and to see her parents supporting her in such a public way, I think that allows all of our parents the permission to do the same,’ said Hannah Karpman, 29, of Boston.”
Katherine Patrick is the daughter of the Mass. Governor who had strongly fought against the amendment that would have banned gay marriage in Massachusetts. In an article from baywindows.com, a New England LGBTQ paper, she has come out publicly with the full support of her parents. Interestingly, her father had campaigned against the amendment before she came out to her mother and father in June of 2007. Here’s a quote from the article:
“As private of an issue as it is, we’ve sort of had to come to terms with the fact that we are a public family and there you give a part of yourself away,” says Katherine. “And we also … wanted people to know that it’s not only something that we accept, but it’s something that we’re very proud of. It’s a great aspect of our lives and there’s nothing about it that is shameful or that we would want to hide.“
It’s good to hear about parents like this, and equally inspiring to see politicians practicing what they preach.
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