Gay Couples Plan to Appeal Mass. Ruling
Out-Of-State Gay Couples Plan to Appeal Ruling on 1913 Massachusetts Law
The Associated Press


BOSTON Aug. 19, 2004 — A state judge upheld a 1913 law that prohibits out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage between residents has been legal since May.

The eight couples who filed the lawsuit from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and New York sought a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the statute, claiming it is inherently discriminatory.

The law prohibits marriages that would not be legal in couples' home states.

In a ruling handed down Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Carol Ball said the law is being applied equally to all nonresidents. For instance, it has been used to stop marriages of couples who didn't meet their states' age requirement for marriage.

"Clerks were instructed to do so for all couples and all impediments, not just for same-sex couples," Ball wrote.


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Proposed gay marriage ban one step closer to ballot in Ohio

Backers of a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in Ohio still don't know if it will be on the November 2 ballot, but their proposed language for the issue was approved Tuesday. The Ohio Ballot Board unanimously approved the language, proposed by the Cincinnati-based group Citizens for Community Values. The language says that if the issue passes, the state will recognize only unions between one man and one woman as marriage.


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Keyes wags finger at opposition
By Eric Krol Daily Herald Political Writer
 

Republican U.S. Senate nominee Alan Keyes used his first major public speech Wednesday to say gay people are sinners, those who would allow women to have abortions in cases of rape or incest lack integrity and his opponent is like a socialist for supporting big government.