Pat Gozemba As we await Hawai’i Governor Neil Abercrombie’s signature on a civil unions bill later today, the news from Washington, Dc is fabulous. US Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama have concluded that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and indefensible. Of course this will not be the end of the [...]

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by Pat Gozemba Testimony that I submitted to the Hawai’i House Judiciary Committee for its Feb. 8, 2011 hearing: Civil Unions in Hawai’i Understanding the Massachusetts Experience To: Members of the House and Senate, Hawai’i State Legislature, considering civil unions legislation (SB 232, SB 231, HB 1244, and HB 1453) From: Patricia A. Gozemba, co-author [...]

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Tribute by Pat Gozemba Tambry Young and Suzanne King, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the people of Massachusetts, represented by those of us gathered here today on November 7, 2009 in Salem, recognize and celebrate your relationship of 28 years.  We honor the extraordinary efforts that you have taken to protect your [...]

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Tambry arrived in Massachusetts from Honolulu, HI, a week ago to help out with Maine’s “No on 1″ campaign. Then she realized, she could do more than fight for the right to marriage—she could marry her partner of 28 years here in Massachusetts. So an elaborate proposal was put together long-distance, that included the above [...]

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By Pat Gozemba Ted Kennedy, a champion of so many causes for equality for such diverse communities, is gone. But his legacy and example will continue to inspire many of us for years to come. On November 18, 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in the Goodridge v [...]

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Pat Gozemba The sky has not fallen. Heather still has her two mommies. The religious right is still predicting dire consequences. Thus far their crystal ball has been very murky at best to downright wrong at worst. As of September 2008, 12, 350 same-sex couples have married in Massachusetts. The latest reports by UCLA’s Williams [...]

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 On May 13, Beacon Broadside posted this commentary by Karen. Things are changing so fast, that by the time your read this, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch may have signed New Hampshire’s same-sex marriage bill. According to the New York Times, a compromise was reached today. As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall [...]

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Pat Gozemba It seems hard to believe that as of May 17, 2009, we’ve had marriage equality in Massachusetts for five years. Part of the reason for disbelief is that we had to fight off constitutional amendment efforts until June 14, 2007. And then we had to fight off, until July 2008, a racist 1913 [...]

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Kath Sands, former professor of religion at UMass-Boston, and her partner Linda Krieger, an attorney, have a marriage license in Massachusetts. But last year, they moved to Honolulu, where they both teach at the university–Kath in American Studies, and Linda at the Richardson School of Law. Linda grew up in Hawaii, and so it was [...]

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On March 3, 2009, GLAD, with Mary Bonauto acting as lead attorney, opened the first salvo in the battle to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In particular, GLAD is challenging Section 3 of the law, which denies federal benefits to married same-sex couples. Here’s what The Progress Report, from the Center for America [...]

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