Massachusetts Limits Gay Marriages

BOSTON —  In what he termed “a matter of utmost importance to your state,” Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Thursday sent letters to the governors and attorneys general of the 49 other states, warning that gay and lesbian couples who did not live in Massachusetts would be ineligible for marriage licenses when the state began allowing same-sex couples to wed May 17.

“It is our view that same-sex marriage is not permitted under the laws of any other state in the nation, including yours,” Romney wrote, citing a law enacted in 1913 when Massachusetts permitted interracial marriage but many states did not. Therefore, the Republican governor said, “the commonwealth ... will not issue a Massachusetts marriage license to same-sex couples from your state.”

In rulings in November and January, the state’s highest court -- the Supreme Judicial Court -- made Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. Romney said he had filed emergency legislation asking for a stay. He also said the Legislature had passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but that the measure would not become law unless it was approved in a general election. The earliest possible date for a vote is November 2006.

“We are preparing for the possibility that the court’s decision will go into effect on May 17,” Romney, who opposes same-sex marriage, said.

-- Elizabeth Mehren