Same-sex marriage itself was rarely mentioned or addressed directly during these years.
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In July 1999, the same court awarded visitation rights to each of two mothers after their separation. In September 1993, the state's highest court ruled that state law allowed for second-parent adoption by a parent of the same sex as a biological parent.
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In the 1990s, court decisions further expanded the parenting rights of gays and lesbians. After a lawsuit challenging the ban was settled out of court, the Dukakis administration withdrew the policy in April 1990. The ban on gay foster parents was enacted into law in the 1989 budget. As Dukakis delayed accepting that recommendation, advocates for gay and lesbian rights threatened protests against his presidential campaign. In December 1986, a commission that reviewed the foster care system recommended that sexual orientation could not be used to disqualify foster parents. The state had no explicit regulations with respect to foster care and parenting by gays and lesbians, either singly or in relationships, until, on May 24, 1985, the state Department of Social Services, with the approval of Governor Michael Dukakis, created a rule that foster children be placed in "traditional family settings". Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's attempt to extend health care benefits to city employees' domestic partners by executive order was successfully challenged by the Catholic Action League in court. In 1998, when the General Court passed a home rule petition allowing Boston to create such a status, Governor Paul Cellucci vetoed it because it applied to different-sex couples, which he thought undermined marriage, while he offered to sign legislation that applied to same-sex couples only. Its supporters focused on equal benefits and fairness rather than same-sex relationships themselves. They asked: "Why should special recognition and assistance be given to friends who happen to share the same house?" Legislation to establish domestic partnerships that would carry spousal benefits was introduced annually in the Massachusetts General Court without success. The Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts, replying in The Pilot, the newspaper of the Boston Archdiocese, said that Weld's "domestic partners" decision harms the common good "by making a special interest group equal to the family" and confuses "civil rights and family benefits". In 1992, Governor Bill Weld issued an executive order providing limited benefits to the same-sex partners of approximately 3,000 management-level state employees, covering only leave for family sickness and bereavement, far short of the health benefits LGBT activists were seeking, but probably the first state-level recognition of same-sex relationships. The Boston City Council debated health insurance for the same-sex partners of city employees in May 1991, and Cambridge began providing health benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees the following year. In the decade that followed, political debate addressed same-sex relationships through two proxy issues: spousal benefits and parenting rights. In 1989, passing legislation first proposed in 1973, Massachusetts prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in credit, public and private employment, union practices, housing, and public accommodation. 1.12 Recognition of legal relationships from other jurisdictions.1.10 Initiative to amend the State Constitution.Foreign same-sex spouses are eligible for a "Non-Tourist Visa" as a dependent.Some cities and prefectures issue certificates for same-sex couples, but they are not legally binding.Unregistered cohabitation or Maitri Karar–type contractual relationships.Legal guardianships (nationwide, except Hong Kong and Macau), residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents (Hong Kong).Romania ruling of the European Court of Justice obliges the state to provide residency rights for the foreign spouses of EU citizens. Registered foreign marriages confer limited rights. Neither performed nor recognized in American Samoa or some tribal nations.
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Neither performed nor recognized in six British Overseas Territories.Neither performed nor recognized in Niue, Tokelau, or the Cook Islands.Registered in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten in such cases, but the rights of marriage are not guaranteed. Performed in the Netherlands proper, including the Caribbean Netherlands.Performed statewide in 25 of 31 states and in Mexico City, in certain municipalities in one other state, and recognized by all states in such cases.