Before Same-Sex Marriage Was U.S. Law, They Said ‘I Do’ in Massachusetts

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The couples who exchanged vows in May 2004 helped usher in a period of profound change, leading to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.

By Adeel Hassan

On Thursday, 10 years will have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court established same-sex marriage as a right guaranteed under the Constitution.

But many of the tens of thousands of American L.G.B.T.Q. couples who have wed in the decade since might never have exchanged vows if it hadn’t been for seven couples who sued the State of Massachusetts in 2001 after they were denied marriage licenses.