Town to End Defiance of Marriage Law

BOSTON —  Under pressure from Gov. Mitt Romney, Provincetown officials backed down Wednesday and said they would stop issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples.

Provincetown, a gay tourist spot on Cape Cod, was one of four communities that openly defied Romney’s order not to let nonresident gay couples wed when same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts on May 17.

Romney said such marriages were forbidden under a 1913 state law that bars all unions that would not be legal in a couple’s home state. The Republican also threatened unspecified legal action against clerks who violated his instructions.

An attorney for Provincetown, Gretchen Van Ness, said the town was exploring its legal options, including a possible challenge to the 1913 law.

On the governor’s instructions, Democratic Atty. Gen. Tom Reilly issued a cease-and-desist order to clerks in Provincetown, Somerville, Springfield and Worcester last week.

Provincetown was the last to stop issuing licenses to nonresidents.

“We firmly believe that it is unlawful and unconstitutional to deny out-of-state same-sex couples the right to marry in Massachusetts,” said Cheryl Andrews of the Provincetown Board of Selectmen, who married her partner last week.

Provincetown issued 217 marriage licenses to gay couples last week -- 14 to out-of-state couples who did not intend to move to Massachusetts.

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said Wednesday that the city would make a decision about how to proceed by Friday. He said Somerville could decide to resume issuing licenses, to pursue legal action, or both.

Clerks in two other communities, Attleboro and Fall River, recently acknowledged they had also been issuing licenses to out-of-state gay couples. They had not publicly announced their intention to do so and had not been targeted by Reilly or Romney.