The Massachusetts legislature is considering the repeal of a 1913 law that bars issuing wedding licenses to people whose marriages would be illegal in other states. But, it also will look at three other bills to block all same-sex marriages in the state.

Shortly after Massachusetts's highest court ruled in 2003 that the state could not bar gays and lesbians from marrying (story) Gov. Mitt Romney declared that the 1913 law prevented town clerks from issuing licenses to couples who do not reside in Massachusetts. (story)

The law had been created when Massachusetts legalized interracial marriage and faced an outcry from other states which still banned the unions. Even then, the law was seldom enforced. After the US Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that preventing interracial marriage was illegal and struck down bans in those states which still prevented them the Massachusetts law collected dust.

"We have a chance to eliminate a law whose origins are in discrimination, a law that has no place on the books in Massachusetts," said openly gay State Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge).

The old law is also being challenged in court. Lawyers for out of state same-sex couples seeking to wed in Massachusetts argued their case in the Supreme Judicial Court last month. (story)

The bill before the legislature has broad support but its passage is not guaranteed. If does make it through the House and Senate it would likely face a veto from Romney.

"We like it when couples who are straight come to Massachusetts. Why should we be afraid of gay and lesbian couples coming to Massachusetts?" Josh Friedes of the Freedom to Marry Coalition said.

The Judiciary Committee is also considering three bills put forward by State Rep. Emile J. Goguen (D-Fitchburg) one of the state's most ardent opponents of same-sex marriages.

One is a new proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage without providing a civil union option. A proposed amendment which allowed for civil unions was approved last year and must get secondary approval this year before it could be put to voters.

The second bill would declare all gay marriages already performed in Massachusetts to be without statutory basis. The third would remove Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, along with justices John Greaney, Roderick Ireland and Judith Cowin, who authored the majority opinion legalizing same sex marriage.

"In the infamous Goodridge decision, these four judges established rights not found in our constitution and then set a 180-day deadline for the Legislature to amend the constitution," Goguen told the committee. "The judges knew very well that the process for amending the constitution requires considerably more time than the 180 days."

Goguen added that "no Legislature can or should be required by a court pursuing some extra-legal agenda to play beat the clock when it comes to our legislative duties."

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