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"By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am honored to pronounce you legally married, partners in love and life."
This is the pronouncement most often chosen by the nearly 100 same-sex couples I have married in my first year as Justice of the Peace. As a lesbian officiant marrying gays and lesbians, I still well up with joy and a flood of emotion every time I say the words . . . even 100 weddings later. I am truly honored to say those words, to help gay and lesbian couples celebrate their relationship in the legal manner that every couple deserves. I have led a very happy and full life, yet there is nothing that I have done or accomplished in my life that has brought me as much joy as serving as a Justice of the Peace and in particular having the privilege of marrying same-sex couples.
And, have you noticed? . . . Massachusetts hasn't fallen into the ocean, it doesn't appear that God has begun to "smite" the residents of this state, and the only change to the institution of marriage that I have witnessed is an improvement to it. In some ways, I wish that everyone could be a Justice of the Peace for a day, especially those who believe that same-sex marriage is a threat to the "traditional" family or to the sacredness of marriage. There is no doubt that each of the couples that I have married is not taking the right of marriage for granted. When people have been in a committed relationship for over 30 years, as several of the same-sex couples I have married have been, I guarantee that they see marriage as very sacred. What is a threat to the "sacredness" of marriage has nothing to do with same-sex couples, but everything to do with the travesty that some heterosexual couples have created in their own marriages.
What has happened in Massachusetts as a result of same-sex marriage? Couples all over the Commonwealth have finally received legal recognition of their relationships. The average number of years that the couples I have married have been together is approximately 15. This legal recognition was way overdue! For these couples, men and women who have found their soul mates in someone of the same sex and been fortunate enough to live out love with each other for many years, it is almost incomprehensible that their relationships were not recognized in a legal way until now. The children of these couples are also celebrating as they experience a validation of their families that until last year they had not experienced. Let me tell you, it has been a rarity that the tears have not flowed at these weddings. The verdict is out: same-sex marriage hurts no one and in fact benefits many families . . . and society as a whole.
Over the past year, I have married couples at their homes, at my home, on the golf course, on the bike trail, over home plate on a softball field, at beautiful traditional venues, on the river, in churches, among other places. I have married young couples, middle aged, and the young at heart. Some weddings have been witnessed by a large throng of family and friends, but some of my favorite weddings have been just the couple and me . . . I have been privileged to witness love in its purest form . . . many times over. I have even married opposite-sex couples who have searched me out as a Justice of the Peace because they were determined to be married by someone who truly celebrates same-sex relationship and marriage. Then there was the heterosexual couple who refused to wed until same-sex marriage was legalized. Each of these weddings was a gift, a gift to the couple, a gift from the universe, and certainly a gift to me - to have the privilege of celebrating love and relationship in such significant and meaningful ways, in ways that so few get to experience. I have been forever affected by the love I have seen and celebrated with each of the couples I have married in the past year.
Although I have only lived in Massachusetts for six years, I have never been so proud to live somewhere - in a state where state court justices have been willing to take a stand for the greater good at a high cost, just as a few radical judges did years ago in the precedent-setting case that legalized interracial marriage. By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I now pronounce us . . . a state that honors the civil right of a vowed commitment to an intimate and lasting relationship recognized through civil marriage . . . for everyone. Amen.
In addition to her work as Justice of the Peace, Sally Masters is Director of Guidance at a local high school, a consultant in diversity education involving GLBT issues, and a personality coach using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Sally has also served on the Northampton Pride Steering Committee this year and makes her home in Easthampton.
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