House votes overwhelmingly to repeal 1913 law! 119 to 36 (update: with roll call)

[Ian David]

House votes overwhelmingly to repeal 1913 law!
by: David
Tue Jul 29, 2008 at 15:39:59 PM EDT

The vote was 119 to 36 (O'Flaherty added himself as a late "yes," and Fresolo added himself as a late "no"). Not a big surprise, but still excellent news: the House has joined the Senate in voting by a large majority to repeal the ghastly 1913 law. Governor Patrick has said he will sign the repeal. Once that happens, Massachusetts will have delivered to the fullest on its promise of true equality in the matter of marriage.

Three cheers!



More:
http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=12316


See also:


Victory! House passes 1913 law repeal in roll call vote
by Laura Kiritsy
Editor-in-chief
Tuesday Jul 29, 2008

The bill to repeal the 1913 law is on its way to Governor Deval Patrick, who will sign it into law. The bill cleared a final hurdle this afternoon, when the House of Representatives passed the bill on a roll call vote after about 25 minutes of debate. The vote was 118-35, with five members not voting.

The Senate passed the repeal bill on a voice vote with no fanfare or dissent on July 15.

State Rep. Byron Rushing began debate on the repeal by giving a history of the law, and disputing statements by those who have said it does not have racist origins."Well sorry. sorry. There was a lot of concern about interracial marriage in this country in 1913," he stated, noting the controversy at the time over Jack Johnson, an African American prizefighter, marrying a white woman.

The 1913 law prohibits out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would be considered void in their home state. The origins of the bill are in question, but advocates and legal scholars have argued that it was passed in 1913 at least in part to prevent interracial couples from marrying in Massachusetts to skirt their home state’s anti-miscegenation laws.

<snip>

In a further show of how acceptance for marriage equality has grown within the ranks of the legislature since the 2003 Goodridge decision caused a panic on Beacon Hill and provoked heated debates, state Rep. Paul Loscocco, a Holliston Republican who was an impassioned opponent of the decision in 2004, urged his House colleagues to repeal the bill, in a speech on the House floor, and, prior to that, in a July 23 e-mail to all his fellow House members. In his e-mail Loscocco wrote, "No legally justifiable basis exists for retaining this 1913 law, which unreasonably hinders same-sex couples seeking civil marriage from realizing equality under the law."

More:
http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=77951

[Rockholm]

1. Finally!