Massachusetts same-sex marriage pioneers split up

[Bonnie]

BOSTON (Reuters) - The lesbian couple whose landmark lawsuit helped Massachusetts become the only state in America where same-sex couples can marry legally have split up, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

Julie and Hillary Goodridge and six other gay and lesbian couples sued Massachusetts for the right to marry and won when the state's highest court ruled narrowly for them in 2003.

Their suit helped spark a nationwide debate on gay marriage.

The women "are amicably living apart," Mary Breslauer, a spokeswoman for the couple said. "As always their number one priority is raising their daughter, and like the other plaintiff couples in this case, they made an enormous contribution toward equal marriage. But they are no longer in the public eye, and request that their privacy be respected."



They have not filed for divorce.

Julie and Hillary Goodridge married on May 17, 2004, the first day same-sex couples were allowed to wed, in a festive ceremony attended by dozens of journalists.

Their daughter, Annie, accompanied the women down the aisle serving as ring bearer and flower girl while guests hummed "Here Come the Brides."

News of their split upset many who had supported their quest for same-sex marriage. "We are very sad for them," said Carisa Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Two states -- Connecticut and Vermont -- have legalized same-sex civil unions. California, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., offer gay and lesbian couples some legal rights as partners.

The debate over gay marriage recently has heated up again in Massachusetts after the state's Supreme Judicial Court last week ruled that voters can decide whether to ban same-sex unions.

If enough lawmakers in the state's legislature approve the measure, it will be put on the 2008 ballot for a popular vote.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsa...-RIGHTS-GAYS-MASSACHUSETTS.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

 

[dmp]

So sickening to see they consider 'raising their daughter' a priority, when they are harming their daughter to untold lengths by simply living such a selfish, destructive, mind-fuck lifestyle.

Dept of Health and Soc. Services should remove from custody ANY child living with practicing homosexuals.

 

[GotZoom]

I wonder if Julie or Hillary will end up with a guy.

Oh...never mind.

That only happens with penguins.

 

[KarlMarx]

I wonder if Julie or Hillary will end up with a guy.

Oh...never mind.

That only happens with penguins.

Oh no.... that can't be possible. Once gay, always gay is what the Left tells us. But hetero to homo is possible.

It's like a psychological one way street, you can only go in one direction...

Yeah, I heard about them splitting up, wasn't it over of domestic violence issues, i.e. one was beating the other one up?

P.S. I've said this before for heteros, so it applies to homos, too. If it is a domestic violence issue, why isn't someone going to jail?

 

[Abbey Normal]

I wonder if Julie or Hillary will end up with a guy.

Oh...never mind.

That only happens with penguins.

:rotflmao:

 

[Dr Grump]

Thousands of hetrosexuals couples split up every day. Big deal.

 

[KarlMarx]

Thousands of hetrosexuals couples split up every day. Big deal.

The big deal is that one of the arguments given for gay marriage was that it would save the institution of marriage. Apparently, whoever made this argument thought that gays would take their marriage vows more seriously than heteros. I think that, if gay marriage becomes legal, in the long run, gays won't have a better track record than straights, and may even have a worse one.

 

[jillian]

Thousands of hetrosexuals couples split up every day. Big deal.

Yup. Same problems as heterosexuals... no better, no worse.

Shocking.

 

[Dr Grump]

The big deal is that one of the arguments given for gay marriage was that it would save the institution of marriage. Apparently, whoever made this argument thought that gays would take their marriage vows more seriously than heteros. I think that, if gay marriage becomes legal, in the long run, gays won't have a better track record than straights, and may even have a worse one.

Total poppycock. Never heard that in my life. And even if you can find a quote buried in a google search, one person's opinion doesn't make fact. There is no reason to believe any marriage between two consenting adults will go the distance. Anybody making such a prediction is a fool.

 

[Abbey Normal]

The debate over gay marriage recently has heated up again in Massachusetts after the state's Supreme Judicial Court last week ruled that voters can decide whether to ban same-sex unions.

Well, you would think that people who fought so hard for the right to take marriage vows would be more careful about choosing a mate. But that's really not that important. The quote above is the key thing. The Court has acknowledged that the power belongs with the voters of the state.

Surely these judges will be drummed out of the NSSACB - the Not So Secret Activist Judges Brotherhood.

 

[Avatar4321]

Total poppycock. Never heard that in my life. And even if you can find a quote buried in a google search, one person's opinion doesn't make fact. There is no reason to believe any marriage between two consenting adults will go the distance. Anybody making such a prediction is a fool.

Yeah there is. It just requires both parties to honor their commitments to each other. Its a matter of integrity.

 

[Dr Grump]

Yeah there is. It just requires both parties to honor their commitments to each other. Its a matter of integrity.

Stats would prove you wrong. And people change.

 

[Dr Grump]

Yup. Same problems as heterosexuals... no better, no worse.

Shocking.

Terrible eh?

 

[jillian]

Terrible eh?

Yup! That it is! LOL! :cof:

Hey! You just got my 2,000th post!! Yay!

 

[Bonnie]

Well, you would think that people who fought so hard for the right to take marriage vows would be more careful about choosing a mate. But that's really not that important. The quote above is the key thing. The Court has acknowledged that the power belongs with the voters of the state.

Surely these judges will be drummed out of the NSSACB - the Not So Secret Activist Judges Brotherhood.

Yes you would think so wouldn't you?? Especially they being as steadfast in their desire to change the law

 

[MissileMan]

The big deal is that one of the arguments given for gay marriage was that it would save the institution of marriage.

What ignorant asshole ever made that claim? Really...provide a link that supports that will ya?

 

[KarlMarx]

Total poppycock. Never heard that in my life. And even if you can find a quote buried in a google search, one person's opinion doesn't make fact. There is no reason to believe any marriage between two consenting adults will go the distance. Anybody making such a prediction is a fool.

it's not one person's opinion, it's a claim that's been made repeatedly

These benefits of gay marriage have changed the attitudes of the majority of people in Denmark and other countries where various forms of gay marriage have been legal for years. Polling results now show that most people there now recognize that the benefits far outweigh the trivial costs, and that far from threatening heterosexual marriage, gay marriage has actually strenghtened it.

http://www.bidstrup.com/marriage.htm

Gay Marriage Could Benefit Marriage Generally:
Opponents of gay marriage argue that it would undermine the institution of marriage, but it’s hard to see how more marriages would be bad for marriage. If anything harms marriage, it is bad marriages where people don’t take marriage seriously — and that’s already too common with heterosexuals. If gay couples in committed relationships are able to formalize their unions as marriages, that can only serve to improve marriage overall by providing more positive role models.

http://atheism.about.com/od/gaymarriage/p/ProGayMarriage.htm

7. Allowing gays and lesbians to marry would promote the institution of marriage by making marriage the societal ideal for all citizens.

http://carnap.umd.edu/queer/marriagenotes.htm

 

[GotZoom]

What ignorant asshole ever made that claim? Really...provide a link that supports that will ya?

Looks like Scott Bidstrup, Austin Cline and the writer of a book used by the University of Maryland Committee of Philosophy and the Sciences are ignorant assholes.

Thanks for pointing that out to us.

 

[MissileMan]

Looks like Scott Bidstrup, Austin Cline and the writer of a book used by the University of Maryland Committee of Philosophy and the Sciences are ignorant assholes.

Thanks for pointing that out to us.

Well, Bidstrup doesn't claim that gay marriage will strengthen marriage, he claims in Denmark, that it has. I don't buy that or any other opinion that gay marriage does or will have an effect on the institution of marriage. It's akin to claiming that the marriage of a couple in California has an effect on another couple in Maine, even if these couples have never nor will ever meet. It's the other side of the same pile of bullshit claiming that gay marriage will ruin straight marriage.

 

[Dr Grump]

Well, Bidstrup doesn't claim that gay marriage will strengthen marriage, he claims in Denmark, that it has. I don't buy that or any other opinion that gay marriage does or will have an effect on the institution of marriage. It's akin to claiming that the marriage of a couple in California has an effect on another couple in Maine, even if these couples have never nor will ever meet. It's the other side of the same pile of bullshit claiming that gay marriage will ruin straight marriage.

Exactly...