On 18 Nov 2003, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts found it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry. They delayed entry of their judgment 180 days in order to give the legislature a chance to prepare. That 180 days ended on Monday, 17 May 2004.
On the morning of 17 May 2004, hundreds of same-sex couples applied for and were granted marriage licenses. Most cities were prepared for the applicants as soon as they opened their clerk's office that morning, but one city was prepared even sooner. The clerk's office of the city of Cambridge opened its doors at midnight on Monday, eight hours early, to begin receiving applicants. Thus the first marriage licenses legally granted to same-sex couples in the United States were granted in Cambridge.
Outside City Hall that night, in addition to the couples waiting in line, were gathered about 5,000 supporters including myself, a dozen or so protestors, and many police and journalists. The lighting conditions were very poor, but I took as many photographs as I could. Here are my favorites.
City Hall on Saturday 15 May 2004.
City Hall on Sunday, eight hours before midnight.
The Episcopal Church across the street from City Hall showed its support. There are several Christian churches in Cambridge that have publicly declared their support for marriage equality.
A horrible photo of me at City Hall, in case you needed proof.
A couple of hours before midnight, the couples started being admitted into City Hall. Here are two couples in line as they process in.
The view from the City Hall steps, 10:00PM. They say there were 5,000 people there.
I believe that most of us there didn't know anyone applying for a license that night. We just wanted to show support.
This photo was taken at midnight. We actually didn't know exactly what was going on inside at the time, so we just sort of cheered anyway.
Shortly after midnight, one at a time, the happy couples started to emerge. For the next few hours, they were greeted by supporters as they walked down the City Hall steps. Some of these people had been waiting years or decades for this. These are my favorite photos from that night; I'll end with them. God bless the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
