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TechnoratiIn a move to let non-resident gay couples marry in the state, the Mass. Senate voted on Tuesday to repeal a 1913 law that prohibited couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they couldn't legally marry in their home states.
The Mass. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the repeal this week.
Gov. Deval Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter announced last month that she is a lesbian, has said he will back the repeal effort.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney had enforced the law back when the state became the first in the nation to legalize same-sex "marriage."
Critics of the law say it carries racist edge because they say it was once used to bar out-of-state interracial couples from marrying in Massachusetts, which has recognized interracial marriage since 1843.
But traditional marriage supporters say the anti-race portrayal of the law is a misrepresentation by same-sex "marriage" advocates.
Massachusetts Family Institute points to the 2006 State Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law as constitutional and rejected claims that the law was racially based.
"The Massachusetts Senate has no right to infringe on the internal issues of how other states define marriage," said Kris Mineau, president of the MFI, according to the Associated Press.
Mineau said in a statement that the "express purpose of the 1913 law was to create uniform marriage standards and respect states right, but the state senate has now reneged on that principal."
The MFI said it expects entangling legal issues to arise if the repeal goes through. Same-sex couples would eventually sue their home states for recognition while those seeking a divorce from their Massachusetts marriages would face a legal limbo, argues the group.
Mineau said that if the House approves the repeal, it would reaffirm the need for a federal marriage amendment.
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