Mass. Allows Marriages for Out-of-State Gays

'It's a good day,' says guv

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 31, 2008 4:07 PM CDT

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Mass. Allows Marriages for Out-of-State Gays — Gov. Deval Patrick waves as he walks past the Statehouse with his daughter Katherine Patrick in a gay pride parade. (AP Photo)

Massachusetts will now allow gay and lesbian couples from other states to marry there. Gov. Deval Patrick today signed a law overturning a 1913 measure originally crafted against interracial marriage, the Globe reports. Massachusetts is the second state, after California, to allow same-sex marriages, regardless of residence. A flood of couples is expected from New York, which does not marry gay couples but recognizes unions from elsewhere.

Patrick said the law "confirms a simple truth: that is, in Massachusetts, equal means equal.” (Read more gay marriage stories.)