a

WILB

HQ
75

 
 

QUARTO

.0971 /’

K ssex Junction — Sandi and Bobbi .
Cote-Whitacre are two women whose

political stature far overtops their five-
foot physical height. They worked tirelessly
for the Vermont Freedom to Marry»Task
Force.in support of the issues framed by the

. Baker lawsuit. They were deeply disappoint-

ed with the civil union compromise that
came out of the political struggle following
the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling. But

they took the opportunity for legal recogni-

tion that was offered and had a civil union in
August, 2000. Bobbi’s 90-year-old mother
walked them both down the aisle and danced
at their reception.
But when the Massachusetts

Supreme Judicial Court ruled late last year
that excluding same sex couples from obtain-
ing marriage licenses violated the
Commonwealth’s constitution, their next step
was obvious; they were going to get married,
really married. On May 17, 2004, the first
day they could apply, they asked for their
marriage license in Provincetown. The town
clerk there had announced that he would not
deny licenses to out-of-state applicants,
despite ominous announcements from
Republican Governor Mitt Romney that such
marriages would be held invalid, based on a
1913 law. ‘

_ That law, ‘sometimes called the
“Reverse Evasion Act,” was enacted to pre-
vent mixed-race couples from marrying by
excluding from marriage in Massachusetts
any couple whose marriage would be void in
their own state. The law had not been
enforced in decades — until this year.

The Cote-Whitacreshad to drive
from Provincetown to Bamstable to get a
waiver of the customary three—day waiting
period from a probate judge. “The judge
asked us why we couldn’t wait the three
days. iWe said, ‘We’ve already waited'37 _
years.’ He looked down at his deskifilled

‘ with divorce cases and said, ‘I won’t be see— V _
ing you back here.’ We said, ‘Nope, not after

37 years.” Bobbi and Sandi tell the story

together, each jumping in to finish the other’s _

sentences.
The town clerk’s office had-closed

v by the time they got back to Provincetown,

  

s p MBER 2oo4

 

Satisfied

Vermont Couple Sues

by Euan Bear

Massachusetts for Their Marriage.

  

www.mountainpridemediapr 

 

so they were married the next day by Justice
of the Peace Joan Drysdale.

Asked whether — after 37 years and .~¢_;;_

a civil union ~ being married felt any differ-
ent, Bobbi said, “It felt different the first
day.” Sandi: “It‘s the -intangibles, the emo-
tion, a connection at a different level. After
37 years, you wouldn’t think there would be
anything new.” Bobbi: “The civil union had a
bit of that feeling.” Sandi: “It’s a permanen-
cy, a comfort zone when each partner com-
mits themselves.” Bobbi: “Not that I think
she’s going to stray or anything ...”

1 But the second day after their mar-
riage was different, that familiar feeling of
being not quite good enough. Bobbi recalled,
“That’s when the governor said he’d pull our
license. We_ contacted GLAD.” Sandi: “There
was a notice with an 800 number to call ‘if
you have any trouble.” Bobbi: “Of course,
there was also the notice saying ‘Don’t come
if you’re from out of state.”

The Lawsuit .
The lawsuit filed by GLAD (Gay'& Lesbian
Advocates & Defenders) on behalf of eight
out-of-state couples is named after them:
Cote- Whitacre v. Department :2,’ Health. The
couples — three gay couples and four other
lesbian couples — come from the rest of the
New England states and New York.

A second lawsuit on behalf of the
town clerks seeks a summary judgment lift-
ing the state attorney general’s cease-and-
desistorder requiring the clerks to refuse
licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples.
There’s a discussion of the legal issues on

A GLAD’s website (www.pQ;LAD.org), but for

1

the Cote-Whitacres, theissues aresimple.
Bobbi: “Now they’re even refusing licenses

to [same-sex] couples with one member who
lives‘ in Massachusetts. Massachusetts
shouldn’t be in the position of enforcing‘

other states’ laws." Sandi: “No state can get
away with treating non-residents differently.” , .

The hardest part is the waiting. The I

first hearing on Cote- Whitacre v. Department
of Health was held on July 13. Sandi: “The
state filed an 89-page brief, then we filed a
response, and the state‘ . 4.
has to file a response Comld on 9- 7/A

News 1-3
Editorial 4
Letters 5
Features 6, 8, 16
Views 10 - 14

V Hep ABC's p. 2. Join
the save~your-liver
campaign! Get your vacci-

ts;ee,a£a_rt_R.E.i 1.2% _ V

V Gays Belong ‘m the
House p. 9. And in the
Senate. Brief profiles of one
Senate and four He-uzse

7 Strange Folk p. 16.
Part 2 from Alaska, where
men are odd and out-
tzeuses race in winter v— on

VKustu1er’sChangep.

20. Kevin Me/Xteer listens to
the soundtrack of the musical

and f.in.ds— literature on a clas-

 

"44444444<4

Arts 17 - 21
Calendar 22
Community compass 22