The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to repeal a 1913 law that prevented the state from marrying out-of-state couples if their marriages would not be valid in their home states. This comes a week after the Senate voted to the same. Governor Deval Patrick said he would sign the repeal.
Some might remember that Republican VP possibility Mitt Romney, then Governor of Massachusetts, invoked the antiquated 1913 law when the state legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, saying the state should not become "the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage." This wasn't the first time the law had been used to discriminate, however. The law itself is steeped in discrimination and racism- it was used years ago to stop interracial marriages in the state.
But rising pressure came to repeal the decades old law after the California marriage decision and New York's recognition of out of state marriages. Further support came from a fiscal study showing the millions of dollars that could flow into the state from same-sex couples marrying.
Of course, not everyone is happy about the news. The president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, Kris Mineau, has criticized the repeal, saying:
The legislators' arrogance and folly are doing terrible harm to marriage laws across the country and eroding the people's right to define marriage.
My guess? He's sick of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride. But I digress...
So the march for marriage equality continues. One more layer of homophobic discrimination has been erased from Massachusetts, opening the door for many more couples to marry if they choose to. It looks like couples no longer have to take the trip to California to take the plunge- we now have destinations on both coasts.
Congratulations to all those who worked for this historic change!
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4 Comments
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Interesting, isn't it, that once upon a time it was all of those "unelected activist judges" in Massachussets and elsewhere that were at the root of all this in the eyes of the Righteous Right. Now when a majority of both houses of the Massachussets legislature, plus assuming he will follow through with his announced intentions, its Governor, what's that do to all of this "unelected" stuff? But then I keep forgetting: those office-holders weren't really put there by popular election....they just evolved over time like those unmentionable guys and gals in the black robes did......or wait a minute, that's too Godless/spontaneious/Darwinian and not what I saw in the Creation Museum, so they must have been elected by Intelligent Design....er I mean Massachussets voters. Please, quick, somebody get me a roadmap to understand this contradictory non-confluence of theology and the democratic process.
Don Sherfick | July 30, 2008 2:22 PM
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Can I just get a wedding bell in my state sometime soon? *sigh*
But "Yay!" for Massachusetts. Again.
Bil Browning | July 30, 2008 5:48 PM
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"...eroding the people's right to define marriage." ?
Last time I checked we are people too and individuals have defined their own relationships anyway with or without marriage. Kris Mineau has made our argument and is too dense to realize it.
Robert Ganshorn | July 31, 2008 2:03 AM
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Cool for them!
Alex Blaze | July 31, 2008 9:46 AM
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