BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill into law July 31 allowing out-of-state homosexual couples to “marry,” opening the door for what conservatives say will be numerous lawsuits in state courts nationwide to have those licenses recognized. The Democratic governor signed the bill two days after the Massachusetts House passed the bill 118–35. It previously passed the Senate on a voice vote. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats.
Although Massachusetts has recognized gay “marriage” since 2004, a law adopted in 1913 prevented nonresident couples from obtaining a license. The 95-year-old law — upheld in 2006 by the state high court, the same one that legalized gay “marriage” — prohibits a couple from getting married if the license wouldn’t be recognized in their home state. The new law repeals that old law. Same-sex couples now have two venues where they can “marry” — one on the West Coast (California) and one on the East Coast. California also does not require “marrying” couples to be residents of the state.
“With that protective barrier removed, out-of-state same-sex couples who marry here will sue to seek recognition in their home states — creating a flood of costly lawsuits and further eroding the people’s right to define marriage democratically,” a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Family Institute, which fought repeal of the 1913 law, said in a statement. “It also puts so-called ‘gay divorce’ in question as same-sex couples face a legal limbo when seeking to dissolve their Massachusetts marriages in their home states which have not recognized them.” (TAB)
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