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Massachusetts leads fight on right to marry

Readies its case that US law hurts same-sex couples

By Milton J. Valencia

 |  Globe Staff  

  April 03, 2012

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Wednesday will hear two cases that challenge the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act: A lawsuit brought by 17 plaintiffs who say it deprives them of the federal benefits that opposite-sex couples receive, and a state government case that alleges it forces Massachusetts to discriminate against such couples when the state’s highest court has already declared their marriages constitutionally protected.

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