UUA President Applauds Ruling in Favor of Same Sex Marriage

(Boston, MA - February 4, 2004) The Rev. William G. Sinkford has issued a statement in light of today's decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's opinion re. Senate no. 2175 (civil unions bill). The SJC was asked by the State Senate to rule on whether a civil union act would satisfy the intent of the Court's earlier ruling in favor of civil marriage for all couples. The court today ruled that only full, equal marriage rights for same sex couples would meet the intent of its November decision, thereby eradicating doubt that the United States' first same sex marriages would take place in Massachusetts beginning in mid-May.

The four justices who ruled in favor of same sex marriage wrote the advisory opinion, saying, "The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal... The (civil unions) bill maintains an unconstitutional, inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples."

The Rev. Sinkford said,

I enthusiastically applaud today's opinion from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. As they did in the Goodridge decision, the court once again has resoundingly affirmed the right to equal protection and due process for all Massachusetts citizens as guaranteed under the state's constitution. Unitarian Universalists are delighted by the Court's refusal to create "a second-class of citizens by status discrimination." As we learned through our country's bitter history of racial discrimination, separate but equal does not work. As the large banner on the side of our Beacon Hill headquarters building proclaims, Unitarian Universalists believe that civil marriage is a civil right.

To read the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court, please visit Boston.com's story "Opinions of the Justices to the Senate" . For additional information on the UUA's statements and UU actions related to the November, 2003 SJC ruling, please see http://www.uua.org/news/2003/031118.html. For information on the UUA's long support for the Freedom to Marry, please visit our resources at: http://www.uua.org/freedomtomarry/.

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