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Massachusetts Gets Ready to Repeal Law Forbidding Same-Sex "Marriage" to Out-of-Staters

By Peter J. Smith

BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Massachusetts State Senate will vote as soon as Tuesday on legislation that would repeal a 1913 law used by former Gov. Mitt Romney to forbid out of state homosexual couples from getting "married" and then returning to challenge their home state's laws protecting true marriage.

The Senate will consider on Tuesday the bill S800, "An Act Concerning Marriage Laws," which would effectively repeal the 1913 regulations that prevent out of state homosexuals from getting "married" in Massachusetts. Should the Senate pass the measure next week, the House then will take up the bill for a vote.

Both House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray have voiced their support for repealing the law. The bill is considered a priority, since the legislature is just a few weeks away from ending its session for the summer.

Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick has stated his support for the bill and will sign it if it reaches his desk.

The proposed measure would amend Chapter 207 of the General Laws by repealing sections 11, 12, 13 and 50. Sec. 11 reads, "No marriage shall be contracted in this commonwealth by a party residing and intending to continue to reside in another jurisdiction if such marriage would be void if contracted in such other jurisdiction, and every marriage contracted in this commonwealth in violation hereof shall be null and void."

Sec. 50 punishes an authority violating the statute with "not less than one hundred or more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both."

Although the law had its roots in preventing out of state persons from contracting interracial marriages made illegal by their home state, Republican Gov. Mitt Romney resurrected the 1913 statutes, which gave other US states time to pass constitutional amendments guarding traditional marriage.

Homosexual activists have stated that the cause against same-sex "marriage" is very similar to the cause for mixed-race marriages; however, pro-family advocates have countered that race has nothing to do with the intrinsic definition of marriage, while sex does.
 
The pro-family group, MassResistance, describes the repeal of the law as "a major goal of the homosexual movement, in order to help spread homosexual 'marriage' around the country."

The group says same-sex couples will try to use their "marriages" to challenge laws in other states using the US Constitution's "full faith and credit" clause. Hence, MassResistance is urging those opposed to homosexual "marriage" from across the country to call and write Massachusetts legislators.

A complete contact list of Massachusetts State Senators can be found here:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm

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