Same Sex Marriage in Massachusetts

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Same Sex Marriage in Massachusetts
http//www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/national/25MASS.
html?th
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Legalizing Same Sex Marriage

• The high court of Massachusetts ruled that it was
  unconstitutional to deprive same sex couples of
  marriage rights in November
• Same sex couples will be allowed to be married in
  Massachusetts starting May 17th
• Massachusetts will be the first state to legalize
  gay marriage in the U.S.

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The Other 49 States

• 39 states have passed defense-of-marriage acts
• 3 states have laws precluding same-sex marriage
• The other 7 states make no specific reference to
  same sex couples in their laws

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Out of State Marriages

• Governor Mitt Romney decided last week that
  out-of-state couples will not be allowed to marry
  in Massachusetts

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1913 Law

• The governors decision was based on a 1913 law
• This law says that no state is allowed to marry
  an out-of-state couple if their marriage would be
  void in their home state

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Enforcing the Law

• Romney has created new forms for applying for a
  marriage license
• Bride and Groom have been replaced with
  Party A and Party B
• Newer questions include where the person resides
  currently and where they plan to reside after the
  marriage
• The form also requires evidence of residence

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Verifying Other Laws

• Massachusetts officials will contact the other
  states to verify if gay marriage is legal in
  their state
• If so, Gov. Romney said he will allow couples of
  those states to marry in Massachusetts
• As far as they can tell no other states allow
  same sex marriage

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1913 Law Justifiable?

• Some say the 1913 law was created to stop
  interracial marriages
• "From our perspective, Massachusetts has no legal
  justification at all for catering to
  discriminatory laws of other states, particularly
  where it has itself already declared that barring
  same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, it is
  clear that this law has been all but a dead
  letter. It's rooted in discriminatory impulses
  and is now being dusted off for further
  discrimination against gay people. -Mary Bonauto

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Void

• 1913 law uses the word void
• Other states laws say same-sex marriage is
  invalid or prohibited
• Would this apply?

10
Repeal

• Three Massachusetts legislators sponsored a bill
  to repeal the law
• Based on it being discriminatory and stating that
  it was superseded by the Supreme Judicial Courts
  ruling
• The 1913 law was affirmed in a footnote on one of
  the opinions of the four justices