Gay marriage in Massachusetts now routine...

A nice article in the SF Gate about gay marriage in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recorded 1,635 same-sex marriages in May 2004, only 300 fewer than heterosexual ceremonies. Friedes said the number was so high because many of the couples who got married last May had been together for years, or even decades.

"What we had was an incredible backlog," he said.

Now, the Boston Globe's wedding pages feature nuptial announcements for gay and straight couples alike. As the controversy has died down, so has the number of gay weddings: In the first two months of 2005, only 148 gay couples wed. Fewer than 10 couples have divorced, according to the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. At the same time, Massachusetts' straight residents appear to be more accepting of same-sex marriage. A Boston Globe poll in March indicated that 56 percent of people here supported same-sex marriage, up from 40 percent in the spring of 2004.

"Gay and lesbian couples have been married, and the sky is not falling down," said Rabbi Devon Lerner, a leader of the Boston-based Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry.