Gay Citizens and Parity

The Supreme Judicial Court today became the nation's first state supreme court to rule that same-sex couples have the legal right to marry.

Gay population: The 2000 Census estimated there were about 19,000 gay couples in Mass., and about 659,000 nationwide, or less than 1 percent of households.

Following are brief profiles of the seven gay couples who sued Massachusetts for the right to marry in the case, known as Goodridge et al v. Department of Public Health:

•Hillary Goodridge, 46, and Julie Goodridge, 46, of Boston, who have been together for more than 15 years, chose a common last name in anticipation of the birth of their child, Annie, who is now 7 years old. Goodridge was Hillary's grandmother's middle name. When Julie gave birth, Hillary had difficulty gaining access to Annie at the hospital. Julie is the president and founder of NorthStar Asset Management. Hillary is the program director of the Unitarian Universalist Funding Program.

•David Wilson, 58, and Robert Compton, 53, celebrated a commitment ceremony in October 2000. Wilson is a past president of the Greater Boston Business Council and works as vice president at Spaulding & Slye Colliers International. Compton is a dentist and director of disease management at Delta Dental Plan of Massachusetts. Wilson has three children and six grandchildren.

•Gloria Bailey, 62, and Linda Davies, 57, of Orleans, recently celebrated 32 years together. They have both worked as psychotherapists for decades and have masters' degrees in social work. Facing retirement, the couple is particularly concerned about the uncertainty of their legal status if one of them becomes ill or dies.

•Richard Linnell, 39, and Gary Chalmers, 37, of Northbridge, have been together for 14 years and have an adopted 9-year-old daughter, Paige. The family lives with Linnell's mother. Linnell is a part-time nursing instructor and emergency room nurse. Chalmers teaches in the Shrewsbury schools.

•Maureen Brodoff, 50, and Ellen Wade, 54, of Newton, met in law school and have been together for more than 20 years. They have a 14-year-old daughter, Katie, whom they jointly adopted in 1994. Wade started her own law firm in Brookline and Brodoff works as general counsel and vice president at a nonprofit organization.

•Gina Smith and Heidi Norton, both 38, of Northampton, have been together for 12 years and held a ceremony to celebrate their union in 1993. The couple has two sons, Avery, 7, and Quinn, 3, born to Norton and adopted by Smith. In 1998, Smith reduced her work schedule as a researcher at the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society to spend more time with the young boys. Norton is the law program director at the same center.

•Ed Balmelli, 42, and Michael Horgan, 43, of Boston, have been together for nearly 10 years. Balmelli is a computer engineer at Lucent Technologies and Horgan is a computer systems administrator. The couple traveled to Vermont in 2000 to have a civil union ceremony.

"We declare that barring an individual from the protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts constitution," Chief Justice Margaret Marshall wrote in the 4-3 decision.

The ruling won't take effect for 180 days in order to allow the Legislature "to take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this opinion," the court ruled in its 50-page decision. Since the SJC is the ultimate authority on the state constitution, however, the Legislature cannot overturn today's decision -- nor would the US Supreme Court agree to interpret a state's constitution.

Opponents could fight for a constitutional amendment, but the soonest that could be placed on the ballot is 2006. The Legislature has already been considering several bills, including one that would allow gay marriage, that would grant benefits to same-sex couples.

The SJC ruling held that the Massachusetts constitution "forbids the creation of second-class citizens." The state Attorney General's office, which argued to the court that state law doesn't allow gay couples to marry, "has failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marraige to same-sex couples," Marshall wrote.

The court rejected the claim of a lower court judge that the primary purpose of marriage was procreation.

While Americans have become more accepting toward homosexuality over the past few decades, Americans are significantly less tolerant than citizens of most other advanced democracies in Europe and North America. In 2002, the Pew Global Attitudes Project surveyed public attitudes across a wide range of social and political issues in 44 nations, and found that the question of homosexuality highlights a stark global divide over social values.

Openness toward homosexuality is most widespread in the Western European nations of France, Britain, Italy and Germany, where more say homosexuality should be accepted by society than not by well over three-to-one. Residents of Canada, as well as the Czech and Slovak Republics also take an overwhelmingly accepting position on the issue of homosexuality.

Americans, by comparison, are split on this issue. A bare majority of Americans (51%) believe homosexuality should be accepted, while 42% disagree. In this regard, American attitudes have less in common with Western Europe or Canada than with Latin America, where opinion is also largely divided.

Across Africa, and in most predominantly Muslim nations such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, lopsided majorities believe homosexuality should not be accepted by society. There is similar opposition to social acceptance in India, Vietnam and South Korea.