Suit to Challenge 1913 Mass. Marriage Law
By KAREN TESTA
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP) - Eight same-sex couples and at least 13 municipalities said Thursday they will mount a legal challenge to the 1913 law used to block out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

The groups said they would file two lawsuits Friday claiming the state law is unconstitutional and that it's discriminatory to enforce it against same-sex couples.

After the state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November that same-sex couples had a right to marry, Gov. Mitt Romney used the 1913 law to block out-of-state couples from exchanging vows in Massachusetts.

The law says marriages by nonresidents will not be recognized if their union is not legal in their home state. Several city and town clerks openly defied the order to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.