Ten years ago, not one state in the nation allowed same-sex couples to marry. Now 18 states do, including Arkansas, which joined that group yesterday.
Massachusetts was the first. And tomorrow marks ten years since gay and lesbian couples were allowed to tie the knot.
WCAI’s Elsa Partan has the story of one Cape Cod couple who sued the state and won the right to marry.
Since then, they’ve watched as bans on gay marriage around the country have fallen and failed.
Melissa and Tracy of Falmouth
Melissa Larrey and Tracy Bouton met in college in the 1980s in Boston. They were raising two boys together in Georgia when same-sex marriage became the law of the land in Massachusetts.
That prompted a frantic call from Melissa's mother, who lives in Famouth.
"Great news," she said. "Gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts and now you have to move back."
In 2008, they did move back. They got married and now they're raising their two boys in Falmouth.