Massachusetts' highest court ruled today that the state must give gay and lesbian couples the legal rights of marriage, which could make the state the first in America to legalize gay marriage.
In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said Massachusetts cannot deny civil marriage rights to two people of the same sex who wish to marry - although it stopped short of ordering the state to start issuing marriage licenses.
"Barring an individual from the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution," the court said, saying state law forbids the creation of second-class citizens.
Conservatives voiced outrage and renewed their push for a US constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
"In this radical, reckless decision, four political appointees in black robes are attempting to redefine the biological reality that marriage is the union of a man and a woman," said Ms Evelyn Reilly, director of public policy for the Massachusetts Family Institute.
Mr David Buckel, director of the marriage project at gay rights group Lambda Legal, said his group would now push for gay marriages across the country in what he characterized as a "state-by-state" battle.
Gays and lesbians will have to wait until next spring at the earliest to wed in Massachusetts because the court put its decision on hold for 180 days to give the legislature a chance to bring state marriage laws in line with the ruling.
But regardless of what happens in Massachusetts, gay marriages will not be equal under federal laws for purposes of taxes, health and retirement benefits.
The 1996 Defence of Marriage Act, signed by former President Bill Clinton, defined marriage for federal purposes as between one woman and one man. The law also said individual states were not obliged to honor gay marriage laws passed in other states.