PRESS RELEASE:    For Immediate Release

Hillary and Julie Goodridge Wed at UUA Headquarters in Boston

( Boston , May 17, 2004) -- Hillary and Julie Goodridge, the lead plaintiffs in the landmark case Goodridge v. the Massachusetts Dept. of Health, were married today at the national headquarters of the Unitarian Universalist Association, at 25 Beacon Street.  Officiating at the ceremony were the Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of the UUA, and Deborah Kay, an attorney and close friend of the couple.  Speaking during the service were State Senator Diane Wilkerson and UUA Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery. 

Other speakers included the couple's friends Amy Domini, David Ruben, Lois Levin and Helen Rittenberg.  Annie Goodridge, the couple's daughter, served as both the flower girl and the ring bearer.  The guests sang  "Here Come the Brides" as the Goodridges processed into Eliot Hall, a historic chamber overlooking the Massachusetts State House grounds next door.   When the Rev. Sinkford uttered  the words, "By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you fully and legally married,"  the room erupted into joyful cheers.

Today marks the first time that Rev. William G. Sinkford has performed a civil wedding since making the decision not to sign marriage licenses so long as legal marriage rights were denied to same-sex couples.  Although Unitarian Universalist ministers have long performed religious services of union for gay and lesbian couples, today the Rev. Sinkford celebrated the opportunity to begin performing civil weddings again.  "It was great privilege to participate in the marriage of this loving and committed couple,"  he beamed.   "It is a great and happy day for Unitarian Universalism and for all of the citizens of the Commonwealth."

For more detailed information on the UUA's support for same-sex couples, please visit our website at www.uua.org/freedomtomarry.

Contacts: 
UUA Director of Information:  John Hurley, 617-948-4386 or jhurley@uua.org
UUA Information Officer: Janet Hayes, 617-947-4386 or jhayes@uua.org

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100