Mass. Senate Votes To Let Out-of-State Gays Marry
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BOSTON — Gay couples from Connecticut and other states are one step closer to a Massachusetts wedding.
The Massachusetts Senate voted yesterday to repeal a 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying here. The law prohibits couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they couldn’t legally wed in their home states.
After Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages in 2004, the governor at the time, Mitt Romney, ordered town clerks to enforce the little-known law and deny licenses to out of state couples.
Critics, including Governor Patrick, a Democrat and the state’s first black governor, said the 95-year-old statute carries a racist taint and needs to be repealed.
The law dates to a time when the majority of states still outlawed interracial marriages. Opponents said the law was designed to smooth relations with those states. Massachusetts has allowed interracial marriages since 1843.
The bill passed on a voice vote.
