Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) hailed as another step toward marriage equality today’s decision by a Massachusetts trial court allowing same-sex couples from Rhode Island to marry in Massachusetts. The judge found no explicit prohibitions in Rhode Island law that would prevent such marriages.

“At last the fence of discrimination has been removed at the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island,” said Michele Granda, the GLAD attorney who represented plaintiffs Wendy Becker and Mary Norton of Providence. “Loving, committed, Rhode Island couples can now affirm their relationships in the most public and respected way our society knows.”

The decision from Judge Thomas Connelly came after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided in March of this year that only couples from states with no “express prohibition” against marriage in their home state could marry here.

Wendy Becker and Mary Norton, parents of two children, have been together for 19 years. When marriage became available to same-sex couples in Massachusetts in May 2004, they traveled to Attleboro, Massachusetts and filed a notice of intention to marry. Before they could actually marry, however, the Romney administration invoked an antiquated 1913 law and ordered town clerks to stop issuing marriage licenses to couples from other states.

“After a very long engagement, we are thrilled to be able to marry and provide our family with the legal protection and social recognition we deserve,” said Wendy. “As the parents of two wonderful young children, our desire to marry has always been with them in mind. We want them to feel their family is as worthy as any other.”

“We urge Rhode Islanders who are thinking about marrying to get information from GLAD,” said Granda. Information on marrying in Massachusetts is available on GLAD’s website, www.glad.org, or by calling GLAD’s Legal InfoLine at 1-800-455-4523.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status. GLAD is active in all six New England states.

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