BY SOME odd twist of events, the best-known act of the Massachusetts Legislature of 1913 is a law denying marriage licenses to nonresident couples if their union would be illegal in their home states.
The measure has a miserable history. Though it resurfaced as part of the same-sex marriage debate in 2004, its origins lie in racial discrimination. And it's a legal anomaly; it asks public officials in Massachusetts to interpret the marriage statutes of other states.
This measure doesn't belong on the books at all. The state Senate is expected to revisit it today. Senators should repeal the 1913 law, and the House should follow suit.
Back in 1913, interracial marriages were legal in Massachusetts, but not in most states. Yet it's not at all clear that any interracial couples were ever turned away under the law. Instead, it fell into obscurity and only resurfaced four years ago, when Governor Mitt Romney cited it in telling towns to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples from out of state.
Other states can enforce their own laws. And if most states refuse to recognize some marriages that are legal in Massachusetts, that's their loss. While Romney sniffed at this state becoming the "Las Vegas of gay marriage," one recent study suggests that letting same-sex couples from other states marry in Massachusetts would bring economic benefits of $37 million a year.
But repealing the misbegotten 1913 law is the right move, even if it doesn't yield a dime. For the measure only underscores the parallel between interracial marriage and same-sex marriage. By repealing it, the Legislature will send a powerful message: Marriages that once seemed so threatening to so many people can become part of the social fabric over time.
