Tanya McCloskey and Marcia Kadish exchanged their vows at Cambridge City Hall one early summer morning outside Boston, after spending 20 years together. May 17, 2004 was a momentous day, not just for the two of them, but for the United States; that day, they became the first same-sex couple to be legally married in this country.
Back then, same-sex marriage was a deeply divisive issue in the United States. Even high-profile Democrats like former President Barack Obama were hesitant to share their support for same-sex marriage — although Obama did eventually become the first president to do so. Now, it has become a somewhat unifying issue, even within a divided government.
