In a 50-page, 4-3 ruling delivered on November 18th, 2003, the Massachusetts state supreme court found that Massachusetts may not "deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry" because of a clause in the state's constitution that prohibits "the creation of second-class citizens." The legislature was given 180 days to change the law to rectify the situation.
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