Wedding bells are going to ring...!

The highest court in Massachusetts ruled today that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry under the state constitution, emphatically stating that the Commonwealth had failed to identify any constitutional reasons why they could not wed.

The ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court stopped short of immediately allowing marriage licenses to be issued to the seven gay couples who sued the state Department of Public Health in 2001 after their requests for marriage licenses were denied.

But the court gave the Legislature six months to comply with its decision.

Naturally, the Religious Right is apoplectic over the decision, promising to pass a state (or federal) constitutional amendment to stop gays from getting marriage rights.

Yet according to the article, the earliest any such amendment could be voted on in Massachusetts would be November 2006. In the interim, gay couples could be granted marriage licenses.

Yay!

Complete story here.