We go to the steps of city hall in Northampton, Mass. to speak with Gina Smith and Heidi Norton who are getting married today three years after they sued the state for the right to wed.

Hundreds of same gay and lesbian couples are beginning to file for marriage licenses today across Massachusetts which has become the first state in the union to recognize same sex marriages.

On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an eleventh-hour effort by conservative and religious groups to block the state from giving out marriage licenses.

In Cambridge, the city hall opened its doors just after midnight this morning as 250 couples waited in line to apply for licenses. Susan Shepherd and her partner Marcia Hams were the first to apply. Outside the City Hall, 10,000 supporters gathered to mark the historic event.

In November, the state supreme court upheld the constitutionality of gay marriage. This came after seven same-sex couples sued the state for the right to marry.

We go now to speak with one of the couples who filed suit in 2001. They are waiting in line on the steps of city hall in Northampton, Massahusetts to apply for a marriage license.

• Gina Smith and Heidi Norton, Massachusetts couple who sued the state three years for the right to get married.