Non-residents Challenge Massachusetts Marriage Ban

September 16, 2004

An appeal was filed today seeking to overturn a ruling that upheld the state's ban on granting marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples.

On August 18 a Massachusetts trial judge declined immediate relief to eight out-of-state gay and lesbian couples challenging the constitutionality of a 1913 law which prevents marriage licenses from being issued to couples from outside the state if their marriages would be illegal where they live.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts this spring (detailed coverage) but Gov. Mitt Romney has used the law to prevent all but Massachusetts residents from marrying in the state.

We're confident that the appellate court will see its way clear to providing basic fairness to these couples, said GLAD staff attorney Michele Granda, who is representing the couples.

Massachusetts should not allow its standards of fairness to be compromised by the unfair and discriminatory laws of other states. As the August 18 decision acknowledged, this law violates the spirit of Goodridge .

The interlocutory appeal seeks to reverse the trial court's decision, and thereby prevent the Commonwealth from enforcing the 1913 law.

Usually such an appeal would go to the Appeals Court, however, GLAD is asking the Supreme Judicial Court, the state's supreme court, to exercise its discretion to hear this appeal directly.

The couples involved in the case come from across New England and New York, who stated that they were nonresidents when they applied for marriage licenses and now face claims that their marriages are void.