A Civil Right: 20 Years of Marriage Equality with Hon, Margaret Marshall

-- The author of the Gooderidge case that legalized equal marriage in Massachusetts and others review the case and lts legacy 20th years on --
The Hon. Margaret Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Nancy Cott, Harvard University, and Mary Bonauto, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), in conversation with Catherine Allgor, MHS President
Twenty years ago, in May 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts took effect. The ruling made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage. Mary Buonato, a civil rights advocate who has been working with GLAD since 1990, will discuss her role representing the couples in the Goodridge case. Professor Nancy Cott will explain the part that a historians’ amicus brief played in this case and others. Former Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall will discuss the import of Goodridge, as well as the reaction to it. In conversation with MHS President Catherine Allgor, our speakers will reflect upon this landmark case, and the role historians may play in legal cases.