N.M. Gays Can Marry in Massachusetts   *

Jul 26 11:57 AM US/Eastern

BOSTON (AP) - Gay couples from New Mexico can marry in Massachusetts
because their home state has not explicitly banned same-sex marriage,
Massachusetts officials say.

New Mexico joins Rhode Island as the only states whose gay residents are
allowed to marry in Massachusetts, the only state that has legalized
same-sex marriage.

Stanley Nyberg, Massachusetts' Registrar of Vital Records, instructed
city and town clerks in a July 18 notice to give marriage licenses to
gay couples from New Mexico.

Massachusetts began marrying same-sex couples in 2004. Then-Gov. Mitt
Romney prohibited out-of-state couples from marrying in the state,
citing a 1913 law that bars Massachusetts from marrying couples unable
to legally marry in their home states.

In March 2006, the state's highest court ruled that gay couples from
other states could not marry in Massachusetts if their home state
expressly prohibited gay marriage.