MARY BONAUTO
“In the 10-plus years since same-sex couples started marrying in Massachusetts, thousands more have been able to marry across the United States, bringing them happiness and security-and harming no one,” Mary Bonauto remarked in a recent press release for National Marriage Challenge. “It is time to end the legal bans that single out same-sex couples for disrespect and instead allow them to make this unique promise to one another and provide greater protection and security for their families.” A powerful statement, to be sure, and Bonauto isn´t just paying lip service: At press time, the lawyer had finished arguing a Supreme Court case (Obergefell v. Hodges) that will decide whether banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The case is the culmination of a career spent fighting for gay couples, garnering marriage in Massachusetts and civil unions in Vermont, and helping to end the Defense of Marriage Act. Certainly, Bonauto, who has 13-year-old twins with wife Jennifer Wriggins, couldn´t have imagined such a journey when she was struggling to come to terms with her church´s view on homosexuality as a college student. She told the Boston Globe that a career in law gave her hope for a better future. “I could either just suffer from the system or change the system. I decided to opt on the change-the-system side.” -GH
What Do You Think?