MA DEPT. OF HEALTH WARNS CLERKS AGAINST ISSUING SSM MARRIAGE LICENSES EARLY...

From the Newton Daily News Tribune

Issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples before mid-May would violate Tuesday's Supreme Judicial Court ruling that gay and lesbian couples have the constitutional right to wed, the Romney administration warned city and town clerks yesterday.

The SJC, the state's highest court, gave the Legislature 180 days to act on its ruling on same-sex marriage.
In the meantime, State Registrar Stanley Nyberg has sent a memo instructing city and town clerks to "maintain the status quo for the next 180 days" and refrain from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

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...BUT CAMBRIDGE PLANS TO DO IT ANYWAY

From the Boston Globe

Defying warnings from the Romney administration, Cambridge appears ready to sanction gay marriages, opening the door for same-sex marriage licenses as early as Tuesday. ...

Other cities and towns heeded the warning, saying they will wait for the end of the 180-day period. In Provincetown, where 701 gay couples have registered in a town database since 1993, 25 gay residents have asked to marry since Tuesday. Assistant Town Clerk Aaron Leventman said same-sex couples remain ineligible for marriage licenses.

...Cambridge officials said that if the council approves the measure as expected, they will proceed, immediately granting local marriage benefits to gay couples. ...

Romney said that if Cambridge moves ahead, the state Department of Public Health would refuse to "recognize a marriage that was performed without being done within the bounds of the law."

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posted by Eve at 7:48 PM | link

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