Romney asks other states' input on marriage law
The attorneys general of Connecticut and Rhode Island yesterday began reviewing their laws to determine if they will honor the marriages of same-sex couples who tie the knot in Massachusetts next month, after Governor Mitt Romney notified the state leaders that he will bar out-of-staters from marrying here unless given an explicit OK.
Romney's letter, which described his interpretation of a 1913 Massachusetts law that forbids couples to marry here if the union would be "void" in their home state, demanded "an authoritative statement to the contrary from either you or your representative" before he would license out-of-state gay couples.
"It is our view that same-sex marriage is not permitted under the laws of any other state in the nation, including yours," said the letter, which Romney's office mailed out to all other governors and attorneys general in the nation. "Unless we receive an authoritative statement to the contrary from either you or your representative, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will not issue a Massachusetts marriage license to same-sex couples from your state."
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose state is one of 11 lacking a Defense Of Marriage Act, or DOMA, said he will render a decision by May 17, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's landmark ruling goes into effect.
Michael Healey, spokesman for Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, said lawyers in the office were preparing a legal response to the issue.
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who had previously issued a press release saying that "same-sex marriages . . . lawfully entered in other jurisdictions outside the state should be recognized in New York," yesterday declined to comment, saying Spitzer wanted to review the letter first.
Lawmakers in the New Hampshire House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill yesterday to block recognition of gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions, a direct response to the Nov. 18 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling legalizing same-gender nuptials. The New Hampshire Senate had already passed a version of the bill and Governor Craig Benson expects to sign the measure before May 17.
In some other states, Romney's letter met a cooler response.
The press secretary for Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, Kate Philips, said he will not respond because he does not believe Romney has the authority to ask other states to offer legal opinions on how marriage policy is carried out in Massachusetts. Paul Nixon, spokesman for New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid, said she would not respond because the office only has the statutory authority to give legal opinions sought by New Mexico officials.
"Our office is not aware of any officials from New Mexico to issue an opinion in regard to the situation in Massachusetts. When that happens, we'll respond accordingly," Nixon said.
Currently, 39 states have either a statute or a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but 19 of those do not explicitly say that a marriage contracted elsewhere would be "void."
In response to the SJC ruling, some states have introduced new legislation to explicitly block the recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
Yvonne Abraham of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 