Gays poised to wed legally

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Beginning tomorrow, Massachusetts will begin issuing the nation's first legal marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear an appeal from traditional marriage groups.

The licenses are seen as a new era in the fight for equal rights, say homosexual-rights groups, who have planned receptions, parties and celebrations in honor of newly "married" couples, their friends and allies.

The "marriages" are the result of a three-year court battle in Massachusetts.

In the spring of 2001, Hillary and Julie Goodridge and six other homosexual couples sued the state when they were denied marriage licenses because they were of the same sex. A lower court ruled against the couples, but on Nov. 18, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in a 4-3 ruling, gave them the constitutional right to marry.

The seven couples in the so-called Goodridge decision said they plan to "marry" as early as tomorrow.

Conservative groups, who believe the court-ordered redefinition of marriage is a social calamity for this nation, have meetings, conferences and speeches planned in Boston and the District and elsewhere, but no confrontations are planned.

"I remind all Catholics that our sadness at what has happened should not lead us into anger against or vilification of any group of people, especially our homosexual brothers and sisters," Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley said last week.

"The creation of a right to same-sex marriage in the end will not strengthen the institution of marriage within our society but only weaken it, as marriage becomes only one lifestyle choice among many others," the archbishop said.

Conservative legal groups, representing Massachusetts lawmakers and a Catholic activist, last week failed to get an emergency stay from two federal courts. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, while refusing to issue a stay, agreed to hear the case June 7.

The legal groups, led by Liberty Counsel of Orlando, Fla., immediately filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. That appeal was denied by the high court Friday.