The topic of same-sex marriage has recently become a major "hot-button" issue for policymakers and judicial circuits at the local, state, and national levels. While the determination of procedure has remained in the domain of legislatures and courthouses, same-sex couples have continued to create long-term relationships that have resulted in intertwined lives.

Massachusetts highest court ruled on February 4, 2004, that anything less than same sex marriages is unconstitutional. The court’s decision will stand until 2006, when a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman can placed on the ballot.