A timeline of events involving gay marriage in Massachusetts

Some important dates in the history of the gay marriage debate in Massachusetts:

April 11, 2001 -- Seven same-sex couples, denied marriage licenses, sue in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston to challenge the state's gay marriage ban.

Nov. 18, 2003 -- The SJC rules it is unconstitutional to bar gay couples from marriage, and gives the Legislature 180 days to come up with a solution to allow gays to wed. President Bush, in a visit to London, criticizes the decision and vows to work with Congress to "defend the sanctity of marriage."

Feb. 4, 2004 -- Acting on a request from state lawmakers, the SJC clarifies its earlier ruling, saying only full, equal marriage rights for gay couples -- rather than civil unions -- are constitutional.

Feb. 11, 2004 -- Massachusetts Legislature opens constitutional convention with debate on a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage and adjourns a day later deadlocked, after failing to pass three separate proposed bans on same-sex marriage.

March 29, 2004 -- State Legislature approves proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but legalize Vermont-style civil unions.

March 31, 2004 -- State Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly says gay marriage will apply only to Massachusetts residents because of a 1913 state law that prevents out-of-staters from getting married in Massachusetts if they are ineligible for marriage in the state where they live.

May 4, 2004 -- Gov. Mitt Romney's top legal adviser warns city and town clerks that issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples will make the marriages void and could result in legal repercussions for the clerks.

May 17, 2004 -- Marriages of gay couples begin in Massachusetts.

May 18, 2004 -- Romney's administration demands copies of all marriage-license applications filled out by gay couples in Provincetown and three other cities that openly defy the residency requirement for same-sex marriages.

May 19, 2004 -- The Democrat-controlled state Senate votes overwhelmingly to repeal the 1913 law that Romney used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts. The repeal dies after leaving the Senate.

May 24, 2004 -- Reilly issues cease and desist orders telling clerks to stop issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples.

June 18, 2004 -- Eight couples and more than a dozen municipal clerks file lawsuits challenging the 1913 law used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

July 13, 2004 -- A lawyer for the out-of-state couples asks a superior court judge for an injunction blocking the state from enforcing the 1913 law, saying it violates both the U.S. Constitution and Massachusetts law.

Aug. 18, 2004 -- Superior Court Judge Carol Ball rejects the challenge to the 1913 law barring out-of-state gay couples from marrying.

October 6, 2005 -- A lawyer for the out-of-state couples argues before the SJC that the 1913 law "sat on the shelf" unused for decades until it was "dusted off" by Romney.

March 30, 2006 -- The Massachusetts high court rules that nonresident gays cannot marry in the state.

Sept. 29, 2006 -- A Massachusetts state judge rules that same-sex couples from Rhode Island have the right to marry in Massachusetts.

Nov. 9, 2006 -- Legislators recess a constitutional convention until Jan. 2, 2007, without voting on a citizen-proposed ballot measure to ban same-sex marriages. The move made it unlikely the measure would be acted on in time to get on the November 2008 ballot.

Dec. 28, 2006 -- The Supreme Judicial Court, ruling in a lawsuit brought by supporters of the gay marriage ban, said lawmakers have defied their constitutional duties by failing to act on the proposed amendment. But justices said they had no legal authority to force a vote.

Jan. 2, 2007 -- Lawmakers, without debate, voted to advance a proposed constitutional amendment seeking to ban same-sex marriage, meeting the needed threshold of 50 votes in favor. It must be approved again in the next legislative session for it to wind up on the 2008 ballot.

May 9, 2007 -- Senate President Therese Murray postponed a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage during the constitutional convention.

June 14, 2007 -- Lawmakers vote to block the proposed amendment from reaching voters in 2008.