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January
16,
2004
Panel
to Discuss the Right to Marry Set for January 21
In
the wake of the recent groundbreaking decision by the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court extending the right to marry to same-sex
couples, Mount Holyoke will host a panel discussion on "The
Right to Marry: Personal and Political Perspectives on Gay Marriage
in Massachusetts." The panel will include state senator Linda Melconian '70,
who helped draft specific gay-marriage legislation for the court's consideration
in light of its opinion; Ellen Wade '70, an attorney and plaintiff in the
lawsuit; and Andrea Ayvazian, the College's dean of religious life and
Protestant chaplain. Jane Crosthwaite, professor of religion at Mount Holyoke,
will moderate the discussion.
The panelists will consider a wide range of legal and social issues arising from
the court's opinion, including the differences between civil union and
civil marriage, whether marriage is primarily a religious or civil institution,
and whether other states will recognize a same-sex marriage entered into in Massachusetts.
In her previous position as senate majority leader, Melconian was instrumental
in extending hate-crime legislation to include gays and people with disabilities.
She sees the gay marriage decision as "a landmark case of historic proportions," comparing
it to Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down as unconstitutional separate
but equal school systems. Citing language from the court's opinion, she
said she doubts that the court will approve of an approach that provides civil
unions for gay couples rather than civil marriage.
"There isn't much wiggle room," said Melconian, noting that
Massachusetts has the most progressive constitution in the world.
Melconian is presently teaching a January Term course at Mount Holyoke titled
Putting the Issues Back into Massachusetts Politics, sharing her many years of
experience facing the challenges and compromises required to forge public policy.
Wade is a founder of Wade & Horowitz, LLC, a Brookline law firm specializing
in estate planning, elder law, and probate administration and litigation. She
is active in many organizations involving elder law and is presently cochairing
the Massachusetts Women's Bar Association's Elder Law Project. In
2001, she and her law partner, Gail Horowitz, were given the Massachusetts Women's
Bar Association's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award.
Together with her partner of more than 20 years, Wade joined several years ago
in the lawsuit challenging the Newton City Clerk's refusal to grant another
gay couple a marriage license. Recalling the announcement of the court's
decision, she said, "We were quite thrilled. It felt like we were finally
being given a form of recognition that the state and our society had long denied
us."
Although Wade and Melconian were in the same class at Mount Holyoke, they do
not know each other, and it is strictly coincidental that they are both involved
in the gay marriage debate.
Ayvazian, who performs mainly same-sex civil unions, believes that "it
is just a matter of time" before gay and lesbian couples have the right
to marry throughout the United States. "We are perched at a pivotal moment
in history," she added. She hopes the panel will bring together "people
with strong opinions on both sides, and those unclear, undecided, or torn."
The panel discussion will take
place January 21 from 4 to 6 pm
in the New York Room in Mary Woolley Hall.
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