our queer elders
love wins
linda & gloria bailey-davies
“I felt safe and like everyone else in the world.”
—l.b.d. on how it felt to be legally married, may 2014
linda and gloria bailey-davies made history in 2001, when they were one of seven same-sex couples who were plaintiffs in the landmark state supreme judicial court case, goodridge v. department of public health. with its 2003 decision, this case legalized same-sex marriage in the commonwealth of massachusetts and paved the way for the national legal recognition of same-sex marriage in 2015.
the two met in the 1970s in hartford, ct, when they were both working as psychotherapists at a children’s mental health agency. the two bonded over ping pong—linda was the new high-femme employee ready to finally bring some competition to the office ping-pong tournament, of which gloria was reigning champ!
linda and gloria have been together more than fifty years and live on cape cod.
linda and gloria at their wedding on nauset beach, orleans, ma. joel benjamin/boston center for adult education
about the song
linda and gloria as grand marshals in the first ever lower cape pride parade.
photo by julia cumes.
when I first got involved with planning lower cape pride, I was surprised to learn that our neighbors were none other than one of the seven plaintiffs in a case that changed so many lives! we were thrilled to have linda and gloria serve as grand marshals for the first ever lower cape pride parade in orleans in 2025, and I was absolutely honored to surprise them with this song that afternoon. every day I am so grateful for the courageous queer elders who have paved the way before me.
love wins
november, it was raining hard
up to boston in their best friends’ car
the day when goodridge was handed down
had to hear it on the radio
news travels fast you know
how lives can change at the speed of sound
it's the lift, the shift, the closet
the right, the fight within
it’s been a very long engagement
we’ll show them love wins
little girl drawing hearts
on the pavement in sidewalk chalk
six months since goodridge was handed down
from the courthouse to town hall
singing hymns and songs aloud
they signed their names they wrote it down
it's the lift, the shift, the closet
the right, the fight within
it’s been a very long engagement
we’ll show them love wins
I can feel it in my bones when I look at my wife
I can feel it in my bones when I look at our life
I felt it in my bones at orleans town hall
I felt it in my bones when we wrote it down
and it’s all because Gloria and Linda did it first
it's the lift, the shift, the closet
the right, the fight within
it’s been a very long engagement
we’ll show them love wins
we’ll show them love wins
k.a.castagno 2025
recommended reading
orleans couple fights for the right to be married. by jordana haspel. cape cod times. 2003.
taking it from here: linda and gloria bailey-davies. a video interview by rick koonce for cape media center. 2025.
profiles in lgbtq+ courage. a podcast interview with linda and gloria for pflag cape cod. 2024.