Nine years ago, Hillary Goodridge recalls, when their daughter Annie was born, she was not allowed to see her or her biological mother, Julie Goodridge, because she was not legally related to them. The Goodridges became lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Last summer, when Hillary Goodridge wound up in a hospital after a broom handle hit her in the face as she tried to extract one of Annie's toys from a tree, a nurse asked whether Hillary's husband was in the waiting room.

"I said, 'SHE' is in the waiting room," Hillary Goodridge told the Associated Press. "He smiled and said, 'Of course. Would she like to come in?' And then I knew I wouldn't have to worry."