Mass. Gov. Opens New Marriage Attack

May 17, 2004

The Romney administration has demanded copies of all marriage applications issued to gay couples in Provincetown, Somerville, Springfield and Worcester — four municipalities that openly defied the governor's residency requirement for same-sex marriages.

A day after cities and towns across the state granted the nation's first gay marriage licenses, Judy Goldberg, a top administration lawyer, called all four communities Tuesday to request immediate copies of the documents, perhaps signaling the next front in the legal battle over same-sex marriage.

They've singled out only the select few that announced a policy contrary to the governor's interpretation, Provincetown Town Manager Keith Bergman said. This is the first step toward something, that's for sure.

After several unsuccessful attempts to delay Monday's court-ordered legalization of gay marriage, Gov. Mitt Romney informed city and town clerks that a 1913 statute barred them from issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state residents who have no plans to move to Massachusetts.

But clerks in Provincetown, Worcester, Springfield and Somerville said publicly that they would issue licenses to all comers, regardless of where they lived, as long as they signed a form attesting that there was no known legal impediment to their union.

Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman would not confirm that the administration had demanded the documents, but said any marriages performed outside of the law are null and void under Massachusetts statutes.

Many of the nonresident couples who came to get their marriage documents returned home Tuesday to inevitable legal battles in their own states. Those who have no intention of moving here face the possibility that their state governments will refuse to recognize their union, and Massachusetts itself could nullify their license, as Romney has promised.

Gay rights advocates in neighboring New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island — home to many of the gay couples who married in Massachusetts on Monday — said they hope legal action is not necessary, but acknowledged it may be inevitable.

It's America in 2004. I think legal action is guaranteed, said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of the gay-rights group Lambda Legal. It's going to take the legal system and the political system quite some time to work this all out.

The 1913 law, which advocates have vowed to challenge, prohibits nonresident couples from getting married in Massachusetts if their union would not be legal in their home state.

No other state recognizes gay marriages and some have statutes that specifically declare such unions null and void. Some simply withhold recognition, while others have gender-specific, heterosexual marriage laws, and a few — including Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York — are silent on the issue.

Romney has previously said he would declare the out-of-state licenses null and void and threatened legal action against the clerks who issue them. The Republican governor has made no public comments since legal gay marriages began.

I just don't know how we're supposed to provide public service and also then operate according to Gov. Romney's take on the law, said Worcester City Clerk David Rushford, who issued applications to 12 out-of-state couples and 60 Massachusetts couples on Monday.

This is an unprecedented request in my 25 years of service. But I'm confident that I'm acting within the law, he said.

Provincetown's Bergman said 28 percent of the 152 notices filed in the Cape Cod town Monday were from out of state. Springfield clerk William Metzger said his office issued 24 applications, but he declined to say how many went to nonresident couples.

Officials in Springfield, Provincetown and Worcester said they were complying with the administration's request and would be sending the documents immediately to the Registry of Vital Statistics.

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said the city also intends to comply after consulting with the Attorney General's office and being told they had little choice.

Attorneys general in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island have issued opinions on whether the gay marriages would be recognized in their states. New York's Eliot Spitzer and Rhode Island's Patrick Lynch indicated that their states would recognize the Massachusetts marriages, while Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal said his state's laws prohibit same-sex marriages but declined to say whether Connecticut will recognize the unions.

Kate Monteiro of the Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights said advocates in her state will remain focused on winning legislative approval for marriage rights there, rather than resort to the courts. But legal action is possible, she said.

If you were married in Massachusetts and you experienced discrimination, or if you have that marriage license not be recognized and you were treated like legal strangers by some government entity in Rhode Island, then you would have standing to sue, but not until then, she said.

While several New York couples have said they plan to challenge the Massachusetts law, no specific lawsuit has been filed, according to Ross Levi, director of public policy and government affairs for the Empire State Pride Agenda.

From our perspective, New York same sex couples have been getting married for a year now in Canada, where three provinces recognize gay marriages, Levi said.

Massachusetts is a little more complicated because of the 1913 law, but it's only a continuation of the legal process that has begun already.