Mass. Governor Orders Look at Out-of-State Marriage Applications

by Fred Jackson, Bill Fancher, and Jody Brown
May 19, 2004

(AgapePress) - The governor of Massachusetts appears to be making good on a pledge to crack down on the state's clerks who are granting marriage licenses to out-of-state homosexuals.

Some of the first homosexual pairs to take advantage of legalized marriage in Massachusetts were from outside the state. In the lead-up to that event, Governor Mitt Romney had warned clerks they could be prosecuted for granting such licenses.

A 1913 law there declares out-of-state couples cannot obtain licenses if their marriages would be illegal in their home states. Now there is word that Romney is demanding copies of marriage applications from four cities and towns that are reportedly defying that law.

Asked why those documents are being requested from Worcester, Springfield, Provincetown, and Somerville, a spokeswoman for the governor said only that "marriages performed outside the law will be null and void."

The Boston Globe says so far, more than 1,000 same-sex couples have applied for marriage licenses. Romney has stated that he does not want Massachusetts becoming the "Las Vegas of same-sex marriage."

Assault Predicted on DOMAs
Nationally, Christian leaders are trying to put pressure on Congress to pass a the Federal Marriage Amendment to protect traditional marriage. And state lawmakers from around the nation met in Washington on Tuesday to urge Congress to act quickly on the amendment.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the amendment, which would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, is necessary because of what Massachusetts state officials were forced to do by four un-elected judges on the state Superior Judicial Court.

Tony Perkins

"[On Monday] they began to issue same-sex marriage licenses -- and a third of those licenses were issued to out-of-state couples who have expressly said they will go back to their home states and challenge not only the state Defense of Marriage Acts [DOMAs], but the federal marriage acts as well," Perkins says.

The FRC head says that because of legalized same-sex marriage in the Bay State, judges at both the federal and state level will be handed the opportunity to strike down the DOMAs passed by Congress in 1996 and by 38 states. He contends the only way to protect marriage now is through a Federal Marriage Amendment.

"Congress only needs to follow to honor what the states have done, and protect the rights of these states to define marriage as it has historically and traditionally been defined," he says. "Marriage is too important an institution, and it plays too vital a role in our society for it to be left vulnerable to one activist judge seeking to advance a political agenda."

Dr. Richard Land, who heads the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, says he is concerned because several members of Congress told him recently that they are getting little pressure from their constituents to push for the amendment.

ACLU Celebrates 'Happy Ending'
Clearly, the American Civil Liberties Union doesn't see the need for a national ban on same-sex unions. In fact, the ACLU -- which sees the issue as one of civil rights -- is praising Massachusetts for being the first state in American history to allow homosexuals to legally marry.

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU and an open homosexual, states that the marriages taking place in Massachusetts "mark a happy ending" to the six-month waiting period imposed by that state's Supreme Judicial Court in November, when it ruled Massachusetts could no longer exclude same-sex couples from marriage.

"By ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, Massachusetts has begun a new chapter in civil rights history," Romero says in a press release. "These ceremonies mark a giant step forward, and they are sure to make the celebrations of the many lesbian and gay couples who marry all the sweeter."

According to Romero, "opponents of freedom" -- a not-so-veiled reference to supporters of traditional marriage -- frequently try to "enshrine discrimination in the law." He accuses those who oppose homosexual marriage now of using the same tactic employed in the past to prevent women from gaining the right to vote and as justification for racial segregation.

Possible Boost for Bush?
The latest polling numbers for President Bush don't look good. But a report says his re-election effort could be helped if conservatives rally to support traditional marriage.

The latest survey done by Zogby International has the president's approval rating at 42 percent -- that is a record low for Bush and a drop of six points since last month. And when people were asked how they would vote if the election were held today, 47 percent said they would go with Democrat John Kerry, while 42 percent said they would support Bush.

But according to Cybercast News, the president could well see those numbers change if state initiatives to ban same-sex marriage take hold. It quotes the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported on Monday that at least 14 states are putting such proposals on the ballot this fall -- and that could well prompt major get-out-the-vote efforts by conservative Republicans.