Massachusetts: Attorney general says most out-of-state gays can't marry
We've been waiting for a ruling on this one: Same-sex couples living in states where laws ban gay marriage (38 at last count) will not be able to marry in Massachusetts, the state's attorney general said Tuesday. Although a court has ordered that gay and lesbian couples can begin marrying in Massachusetts on May 17, Attorney General Thomas Reilly said an obscure 1913 state law prevents the state from issuing marriage licenses to couples who are not eligible to be married in their home states. He said Massachusetts should give a list of those states to town clerks so that they can refuse marriage licenses to people residing there. ajc.com
Meanwhile, Reilly is resisting pressure from Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who wants Reilly to keep gay marriage from becoming legal on May 17. Romney argues gay marriage should be put on hold for at least another 2½ years now that lawmakers have backed a ban on same-sex weddings that may be added to the state constitution in 2006. Reilly refused, arguing that the court had made itself clear in November and in an advisory opinion in February. "The arguments the governor makes are political arguments," said Reilly, who is viewed as a possible gubernatorial opponent in 2006. "The governor's job is to implement the law of the state, and I expect him to do that." Republican-American
In Georgetown, Newburyport and Rowley, flyers were dropped from the National Alliance, a West Virginia-based white supremacist organization. A patrolman spotted the flyers early in the morning. The first flyer, titled, "Let's stand for family values!" stated the organization's opposition to gay marriage. According to their website, group membership is open to any "White person (a non-Jewish person of wholly European ancestry) of good character and at least 18 years of age ... No homosexual or bisexual person, no person actively addicted to alcohol or to an illegal drug, no person with a non-White spouse or a non-White dependent ..." Georgetown Record
Massachusetts gay marriage news
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