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365Gay.com
Massachusetts May
Open Up Gay Marriage
To Out-Of-Staters
From the Web, July
10, 2008
Boston, Massachusetts -- A
1913 law used to bar same-sex couples from states which would not recognize
their marriages from marrying in Massachusetts could soon be history.
Legislation to repeal the law will be taken up at the State House next week.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D) and Senate President Therese Murray (D) both
support the repeal effort. If the bill passes Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has
said he will sign it.
Republicans are expected to oppose the bill, along with a number of Democrats.
Opposition to repealing the old law is strong and the vote is expected to be
close.
The old law, which says marriage licenses cannot be issued to couples whose
weddings would be illegal in the states where they lived, was originally passed
when interracial marriage was legal in Massachusetts but most other parts of the
country.
When the US Supreme Court overturned state bans on interracial marriage the
Massachusetts law fell into disuse.
However, when the Massachusetts high court struck down the state ban on same-sex
marriage in 2003, then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) dusted off the old law, threatening
to charge local clerks if they issued marriage licenses to out-of-state same-sex
couples.
In a challenge to the out-of-state ban the Supreme Judicial court in 2006 upheld
the law but noted that since Rhode Island did not have a specific law defining
couple in its marriage law gay and lesbian couples from that state could marry
in Massachusetts. Rhode Island is believed to be the only state without a
definition of what constitutes a couple.
The court also said that the Massachusetts legislature could repeal the 1913
law.
California, the only other state to allow same-sex marriage has no out-of-state
limitation.
The Massachusetts Family Institute which fought to block same-sex marriage in
the state said it would fight to retain the old law. The institute and
other socially conservative groups, including the Catholic church, say they
intend to use the issue to defeat Democrats in November.
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