Mass. State Senate President Engaged to Partner

One of the most important figures in Massachusetts' decade-old marriage equality win will finally practice the freedom he helped secure.

Massachusetts State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst resident, proposed to his partner Bryon Hefner two weekends ago at their Boston residence after dancing to "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran, and reportedly giving him a monogrammed handkerchief with "BHR" embroidered on it.

"It's so nice to see somebody who fought hard for all of us to be able to get married, now enjoy being able to get married himself," said Daniel Stevens in a recent interview with GazetteNet. Stevens, a Northampton resident, has known Rosenberg personally and professionally for years.

According to Stevens, Rosenberg, 65, didn't come out publicly until after he met and fell in love with 27-year-old Hefner. Even in 2004, when he fought to keep a same-sex marriage ban off the Massachusetts ballot, he was still keeping that facet of his life private. Now, after more than six years of courtship, Rosenberg has decided to spend the rest of his life with the man who helped him be himself.