Provincetown backs down for now, but vows continued fight

BOSTON (AP) -- Provincetown officials said Wednesday they will stop issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples, but will continue fighting a state law they believe is "unlawful and unconstitutional."

Provincetown, the gay tourism mecca at Cape Cod's tip, was one of four communities that openly defied Gov. Mitt Romney's prohibition on issuing licenses to gay couples from out of state after the legalization of same-sex marriage on May 17.

Romney said that the marriages were forbidden under a 1913 statute that bars all unions that would not be legal in a couple's home state. Democratic Attorney General Thomas Reilly issued a cease and desist order to clerks in Provincetown, Somerville, Springfield, and Worcester last week. Provincetown was the last to stop issuing licenses to nonresidents.

"We firmly believe that it is unlawful and unconstitutional to deny out-of-state same-sex couples the right to marry in Massachusetts," said Provincetown Board of Selectmen Chairman Cheryl Andrews, who married her longtime partner last week.