Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has said
gay marriage has made Boston “a much better place to live.”
Menino is one of the more than 75
mayors joining the nascent group Mayors for the Freedom to Marry.
Mayors involved will lobby state
lawmakers to approve marriage equality legislation and call on
Congressional representatives to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), which bars federal agencies from recognizing the legal
marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
At a Friday press conference held at
the 80th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington
D.C., Menino said that Boston was better for having marriage
equality.
“It was nearly 8 years ago that my
city was the first large city in the country to marry same-sex
couples,” Menino told reporters. “Back then it was a huge deal.
Huge. I'm here to tell you that marriage for gay couples has made my
city of Boston a much better place to live.”
Menino also called on Congress to
repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars federal
agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay couples.
“It's the right thing and the
American thing to do,” he said.
(Related: Annise
Parker: Gay marriage would have made a tremendous difference in my
life.)