Gay-marriage license rules sought

Provincetown officials plan to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples from out of state next month, despite the state attorney general's view that Massachusetts law forbids same-sex couples from most other states from marrying here.

Same-sex couples from around the United States have contacted Provincetown to plan weddings once gay marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts on May 17, but Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly has said state law prohibits them from marrying here if their home state forbids gay marriage, as is the case in at least 38 states.

Provincetown's Board of Selectmen recently voted to permit marriages for out-of-state residents who complete a form stating that their marriage doesn't break any laws. Yesterday, the town manager, Keith Bergman, said town officials would not investigate to verify the home states or backgrounds listed for gay couples on marriage license applications.

"We've never been the marriage police with heterosexual couples, and we're not about to start with same-sex couples," Bergman said.

Massachusetts has garnered nationwide and international attention since November when the state's highest court legalized gay marriage. Many same-sex couples traveled to Vermont after it became the first state to legalize civil unions, and many others have made plans to travel to Massachusetts to be married after May 17, when the Supreme Judicial Court ruling takes effect.

Long a haven for gay residents and visitors, Provincetown has 3,400 year-round residents, but the population swells to as many as 60,000 people in the summer, and the town stands to benefit financially if gay couples see it as a wedding destination.

But while some in Provincetown are already reporting a surge in wedding-related business, the state has yet to clarify how local clerks should deal with same-sex marriage licenses.

Some town officials have complained that with little more than a month to go they've received little guidance on how to handle same-sex marriages. Governor Mitt Romney, who opposes gay marriage, has authority over the state Department of Public Health, whose Registry of Vital Records and Statistics oversees the issuance of marriage licenses.

Yesterday, a Romney spokesman said the Department of Public Health planned to issue instructions for municipal clerks "with plenty of room to spare before May 17." The spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, said Romney was still examining ways to stop the SJC ruling from taking effect, but was nevertheless making plans for its enactment.

"The governor is reviewing all of his legal options and preparing for every contingency, including licensing gay couples to marry on May 17," Fehrnstrom said.

It remains unclear whether out-of-state gay couples will be allowed to marry here.

Reilly, who as attorney general is the state's top lawyer, has said that the SJC ruling would allow marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples who live in Massachusetts or in other states that do not ban gay marriage. Reilly's opinion was based on a 1913 Massachusetts law that was aimed at blocking interracial marriages.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the attorney general's office said Reilly had urged the governor's legal counsel to ask the Department of Public Health to clarify its regulations for city and town clerks as soon as possible.

"There does not need to be confusion if public officials carry out their responsibility and implement the laws in an orderly way," said the spokesman, Corey Welford.

The Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association has scheduled forums on April 24 at Provincetown Town Hall and at Northeastern University Law School to answer questions about same-sex marriage. Topics to be discussed include filing tax returns, making a new will, and whether marriages will be recognized outside Massachusetts, said organizer Jo Ann Citron.

Laurence Pizer, the town clerk in Plymouth for the last 12 years and a past president of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association, said clerks are frustrated with the lack of guidance from the state.

Couples who apply for a civil marriage license now must complete a "Notice of Intention of Marriage" form that says in part: "We/I hereby state that there is an absence of any legal impediment to the marriage."

Pizer said that after May 17, he plans to accept the signed "Notice of Intent" from gay couples just as he accepts the word of heterosexual couples. He said town clerks are not investigators, and ask for additional identification only when the couple appear to be under 18 years of age.

"If somebody came in and said they were from Great Barrington, I don't know anybody from Great Barrington, so I wouldn't question that," he said. "We don't make a phone call to the attorney general of Aruba to see if there's a reason they shouldn't be married."

Provincetown selectmen based their vote on an opinion by the town's attorney, John W. Giorgio. In the opinion, Giorgio said marriage licenses could be issued to out-of-staters who sign the "Notice of Intent" because municipal clerks can't be expected to keep track of states that ban gay marriage.

"We've had people asking questions about this since November," said Bergman. From the state, "As of yet, there's been only silence."