Boston
The highest court in Massachusetts ruled this week that the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. The Supreme Judicial Court ordered the Legislature to resolve the issue within six months, launching what threatened to be a bitter debate. Some lawmakers want to make gay marriage legal, but others have proposed amending the state constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Lawyers for seven gay couples who had sued for the right to wed said they were disappointed that the justices didn’t legalize gay marriage immediately. Chief Justice Margaret Marshall said that the state should be happy to have any couples, gay or straight, committing to marriage. “It brings stability to our society,” she said.
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