clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

These Family Portraits Celebrate 10 Years of Marriage Equality

By Susie Kostaras

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

  • All photos courtesy of Joel Benjamin
  • Left: Hilary Goodridege, Julie Goodridge, and Annie Goodridge; Right: Don Picard, Robert DeBenedictis, James DeBenedictis, and Carmen DeBenedictis
  • Left: Robert Ebersole and Troy Daniels; Right: Heidi Nortonsmith, Gina Nortonsmith, Avery Nortonsmith, and Quinn Nortonsmith
  • Left: Carla Imperial, Megan Jewett, and Kai Imperial; Right: Steven Littlehale and Rabbi Howard Berman


Ten years ago, Massachusetts made history when it became the first state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage, a hard-earned battle that a decade later has led an example for more than a dozen other states to follow. The Boston Center for Adult Education is celebrating this legacy of marriage equality with two photography series on view in its gallery space through June 30.

Traveling back in time, "The Hard-Won Fight: America's First Legal Same-Sex Marriage" is a joint effort between photographers Marilyn Humphries and Susan Symonds who captured moments from the groundbreaking Goodridge v. Dep't. of Public Health Massachusetts Supreme Court case in 2003 and 2004. Coupled with those documentary-style images are black and white portraits, titled "Marriage Equality: 10th Anniversary Portraits" and photographed this year by Joel Benjamin, featuring pioneering couples who wed in 2004 (and their families), including all seven couples from the landmark Goodridge ruling.

Each 2014 portrait is shown alongside a photo submitted by each couple of the day they were married, listing their wedding date and how long they have been together (some of them paired up forty years ago). Looking at the two series, Benjamin notes: "You really see how far we've come. There were a lot of protests, anger, a lot of hatred, and it contrasts well with where we are ten years later. Loving couples, married. Very simple; didn't need to be all that dramatic. I think the show really resonates." The BCAE gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm.
· Marriage Equality: 10th Anniversary Portraits [Joel Benjamin Photography]
· Weddings Week 2014 [Racked Boston]
· BCAE [Official Site]