The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the bill in a 118-35 vote July 29 and the Senate passed it with no objections on a voice vote July 15.
The 95-year-old law — which stopped interracial couples who couldn’t marry in their own states from marrying in Massachusetts — was resurrected after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004.
”The 1913 law, a shameful vestige from another wrong-headed time of denying marriage to interracial couples, became (former) Gov. Mitt Romney’s archaic tool in his unsuccessful bid to deny the freedom to marry to same-sex couples,” said National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey. ”Not only does today’s House vote repudiate Romney’s efforts to block our marriages in Massachusetts, it also invites couples from around the United States to experience the joy and happiness of celebrating their lives by becoming married in the Bay State.”
MassEquality Executive Director Marc Solomon commented, ”We’ve ridded our state laws of the last vestige of discrimination against same-sex couples, and we once again lead the way for equality for all people.”
”Massachusetts is taking down the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign that applied only to same-sex couples,” said Lambda Legal. ”This is thrilling news to the same-sex couples we hear from in other states, especially New York, who are seeking a place where they can marry under the law without leaving the country or traveling to the other side of the continent.”
New York recognizes same-sex marriages entered into in other jurisdictions.
Uppdaterad 2016-11-16
