Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts signed a bill today repealing the 1913 prohibition on out-of-state couples marrying in Massachusetts. This means that same-sex couples from Maine can now be legally married in both Massachusetts and California. However, when they return to the pine tree state, their unions will not be recognized.
The New York Times interviewed one such couple, Michael Thorne and James Theberge of Cape Elizabeth, who have been together for 25 years. They plan to make the trip to Massachusetts to be married, and say their children are a big reason why.
"we made a commitment to our 6-year-old a couple of years ago that we would get married, and he won’t let us off the hook. He has a little brother now who’s 8 months old and that makes it important for both of these guys to demonstrate to them our commitment to be a family for them, and to be a family as legitimate as any other."
Thorne and Theberge also shared their plans with WLBZ TV:
Equality Maine, the LGBTQ rights group, recommends that same-sex couples in Maine that are considering tying the knot read a series of publications from GLAD, including "How to Get Married in Massachusetts" and "Make Change, Not Lawsuits". The latter guide recommends that newlyweds use caution in approaching the political and legal issues surrounding their marriage, stating "suing in states where the courts aren’t ready is likely to get us bad rulings. Bad rulings will make it much more difficult for us to win marriage, and will certainly make it take much longer."
So the big question is, are the courts and people of Maine "ready", and what is the future of Michael and James's marriage in Maine? I asked Equality Maine Executive Director Betsy Smith for her take on that question.
"We have had conversations on marriage for two and a half years, and with the gains happening across the country (NH winning civil unions, CA winning marriage, MA repealing 1913), the debate on marriage in Maine is ramping up," she replied by email.
She outlined the gains that have been made so far in media exposure and public acceptance of same-sex couples in Maine and also laid out her organization's plans for the near future.
"On Nov 4, EqualityMaine will be at the polls in an effort to identify 10,000 pro-marriage voters. We are also working on a handful of state Senate races to help elect pro-marriage candidates. Our third and final strategy this fall is to continue our conversations on marriage with policy makers in an effort to build broad support for marriage for when the time is right to move forward," she wrote.
It looks like equal marriage advocates will be looking to he legislature rather than the courts to preserve their rights in Maine. It's another issue to add to the many that may be affected by the outcome of this year's elections.
In 2006, Equality Maine assissted candidates in Senate Districts 6, 7, and 19, among others.
