Mass. Senate Votes to Let Out-of-State Gays Marry

[tekisui]

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Senate has voted to repeal a 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in the state.

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, then-Gov. Mitt Romney ordered town clerks to enforce the little-known law and deny licenses to out-of-state couples.

The repeal effort has the support of Gov. Deval Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter announced last month she is a lesbian.

The Massachusetts Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the law. The House is expected to vote this week.

An analysis found repealing the law could draw thousands of couples to Massachusetts, boosting the economy by $111 million over three years.

link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage;_ylt=As3lRk24ukiISttDvmk5SqhvzwcF

[meegbear]

1. w00t!

:woohoo:

[SacredCow]

2. Whatcha w00ting about???

Don't you realize that Massachusetts will crumble from the earth now? Rivers will turn to blood? Nazis will roam the land riding on dinosaurs? :eyes:

[meegbear]

8. Because I live in Mass ...

and I wanna see all that first hand.

[rox63]

10. I bet there'll be lots of weddings around here this summer

:party: :toast:

[Breeze54]

12. Maybe more jobs too!

:toast:

[SacredCow]

14. Yeah, I'd like to see it, too.....

We've tried, what with Southern Decadence and all, but I guess that wasn't enough since all we got was a hurricane.

[dsc]

3. congrats

sadly NC handed us a big loss.

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/senate_backs_up_on_bullying

Glad we won somewhere.

[Breeze54]

4. I love my state! And tomorrow they vote on same day voter registration!

That's awesome news! :D

[rox63]

5. I'm proud to be a Masshole today

I hope we get another victory tomorrow. :woohoo:

[Breeze54]

6. Did you read my post in the MA forum? I called my Senator....

They said "we'll let him know where you stand on this." :eyes:

I think it'll pass anyway. :P

I hate it when that RW derogatory term is used. Just sayin'. :hi:

[rox63]

9. I decided to take it back and wear it with pride

Just like some LGBT folks wear the "queer" label with pride.

I live near the NH border, where the NHers use it as a derogatory term all the time.

[Breeze54]

11. That's my point. Don't help them.

;)

[Ian David]

7. Do we have a roll call vote listed for this yet? n/t

[Forkboy]

13. Eggggzellent.

Not many states in the US I'd want to live in other than Mass.

[mloutre]

18. just so.

[Forkboy]

19. LOL...that's one irate looking racoon.

:)

[pleah]

15. K&R for the good news!

:woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

[mloutre]

16. Yay!!

Every now and then my home commonwealth does something right...

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. So, now gay couples can have weddings in MA which will be null and void in their home states?

I'm not sure how exactly this is a victory.

[rox63]

21. There are a few other states that will recognize the marriages

Even though same-sex marriages are not yet available in those states. I think it's NY, NM and RI, but I'm not positive of the list. And of course there's CA, where they could also get married.

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. Has anyone from one of these states tried to get a CA marrige recognized?

[rox63]

30. Probably too soon to tell

Unless someone who got married in CA has moved to MA in the past month. And if they were MA residents before, they probably already got married in MA.

Hey, we're doing everything we can here in MA. I wish we could help out the other states, but it's up to their state govts. By next week, out-of-staters can come to MA and get a legal marriage. Whether their home states recognize marriage, MA can't do anything about that.

[JackBeck]

22. For starters, they repealed a law that the Romney administration dug up

telling out of state couples wanting to get married in Mass. that if they came there to get married, their marriage would be void.

Secondly, any out of state couple can now go to Mass., get married, and sue their home state for recognition, which eventually, depending on which state decides not to recognize the out of state marriage, will land in front of the Supreme Court.

[Toasterlad]

23. EVERY Crack in the Damn is Important...and a Victory.

[Zhade]

24. Do you fully support our right to marriage? If not, you're unwelcome on DU.

Skinner's own words.

Well?

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. I support Senator Obama's consensus-building approach to this issue and

other hot-button topics. His stances on late-term abortions, gun control, and gay marriage put him in the mainstream and take away wedge issues for the Republicans to use against him.

[Tesha]

32. It's further setting the stage for a "full faith and credit" challenge to the federal DOMA.

It's definitely progress.

But what *REALLY* demarks the progress is that there
was almost no controversy over this bill this time.
I guess with 10,000 or so marriages having already
taken place and no biblical plagues having yet been
seen, people are adjusting to the idea that there's
really nothing special or extraordinary about letting
any two people who want to marry get married.

Tesha

[Freddie Stubbs]

33. Wouldnt a state REFUSING to recognize a marriage be the type of case to trigger a challenge of DOMA?

[Tesha]

34. That's my impression (as a non-lawyer, FYI). (NT)

[bunnies]

20. Now if only they could do something about their drivers!

:evilgrin:

Yay for MA though. Bad drivers and all! I'm sure I'll be attending some weddings in my neighbor state soon! :bounce:

[Breeze54]

25. Yeah, well you guys need to learn the rules of the road !!

Speed up on Red!!!

Stop on Green!!!

Do what ever the fuck you want on Yellow!!!

And when you get to a rotary.... fucking STOP FIRST and then MERGE!!!

:P

[rox63]

31. And don't ever, ever use a turn signal

:P

[sakabatou]

26. Yay

Good for Mass.

[SmileyRose]

27. heh heh

my heterosexual marriage will be destroyed the moment a gay couple from Georgia flies to Boston and gets hitched. I predict within a year there won't be a heterosexual marriage left in America.

Oh the humanity.

LOL

(Good on Massachusetts)