The Massachusetts House voted on July 29th by a margin of 119 to 36 to repeal the 1913 marriage law governing marriages in Massachusetts by non-residents. Three legislators did not vote. This move to repeal the 1913 law would let same-sex couples from other states that do not recognize same-sex marriage to get married here, and then return home to file lawsuits to change their state’s marriage laws. The Senate already had approved the repeal (Senate 800) by voice vote and Governor Deval Patrick has promised to sign the measure, making it certain that the repeal will soon go into effect. Backers of the repeal gleefully admitted after the House vote that Massachusetts now will become the “Las Vegas of gay marriage,” saying that it will be good for the economy. 

Representatives Byron Rushing (D-Boston), Paul Loscocco (R-Holliston), Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge), and Robert Spellane (D-Worcester) spoke in favor of the repeal while Representatives John Lepper (R-Attleboro), Vinny deMacedo (R-Plymouth), and Mary Rogeness (R-Longmeadow) eloquently opposed it. Rep. deMacedo in particular effectively rebutted charges that the original 1913 law was motivated by opposition to interracial marriage, relying on materials supplied by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference and the Massachusetts Family Institute.

It should be noted that the final tally indicated here differs by two votes from the printed roll call tally, since Representatives John Fresolo (D-Worcester) and Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea) failed to vote in time, but afterward were permitted to vote late, without objection, with Fresolo voting against and O’Flaherty voting for the repeal. Two of the 160 House seats are vacant (Watertown and Marlboro).

“Notes from the Hill” is provided by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference (MCC), the public policy voice for the four Catholic dioceses of Massachusetts. “Notes from the Hill” is not an official statement of the bishops of Massachusetts or MCC.

Tally Explanation:

Y=voted to repeal the 1913 law, thus allowing same-sex couples in other states that don’t recognize same-sex marriage to marry in Massachusetts

N=voted to keep the 1913 law in place, thus continuing to prohibit same-sex couples in other states from marrying in Massachusetts

X=did not vote

Name District Vote

(Vacant) Kaprielian, R Watertown

(Vacant) LeDuc, S Marlborough

Aguiar, K Fall River Y

Alicea, G Charlton Y

Allen, W Boston Y

Atkins, C Concord Y

Atsalis, D W. Hyannis Y

Ayers, B Quincy N

Balser, R Newton Y

Barrows, J Mansfield N

Basile, C East Boston Y

Binienda, J E. Worcester N

Bosley, D North Adams Y

Bradley, G Hingham Y

Brownsberger, W Belmont Y

Cabral, A New Bedford Y

Callahan, J Sutton Y

Calter, T Kingston Y

Campbell, L Methuen Y

Canavan, C Brockton Y

Canessa, S New Bedford Y

Casey, P Winchester N

Clark, K Melrose Y

Coakley-Rivera, C Springfield Y

Conroy, T Wayland Y

Costello, M Newburyport Y

Creedon, G Brockton N

Curran, S Springfield Y

D’Amico, S Seekonk Y

DeLeo, R Winthrop Y

deMacedo, V Plymouth N

Dempsey, B Haverhill Y

DiMasi, S Boston Y

DiNatale, S Fitchburg Y

Donato, P Medford Y

Donelan, C Orange Y

Driscoll, J Braintree N

Ehrlich, L Marblehead Y

Eldridge, J Acton Y

Evangelidis, L Holden N

Fagan, J Taunton N

Fallon, C Malden Y

Falzone, M Saugus Y

Fennell, R Lynn Y

Fernandes, J Milford Y

Finegold, B Andover Y

Flanagan, J Leominster Y

Flynn, D Bridgewater N

Forry Boston Y

Fox, G Roxbury Y

Fresolo, J Worcester N

Frost, P Auburn N

Galvin, W Canton Y

Garballey, S Arlington Y

Garry, C Dracut N

Gifford, S Wareham N

Gobi, A Spencer Y

Golden, T Lowell Y

Grant, M Beverly Y

Greene, W Billerica N

Guyer, D Dalton Y

Haddad, P Somerset Y

Hall, G Westford Y

Hargraves, R Groton N

Harkins, L Needham Y

Hill, B Ipswich Y

Honan, K Brighton Y

Humason, D Westfield N

Hynes, F Marshfield N

Jones, B North Reading Y

Kafka, L Sharon Y

Kane, M Holyoke N

Kaufman, J Lexington Y

Keenan, J Salem Y

Kennedy, T Brockton Y

Khan, K Newton Y

Kocot, P Florence Y

Koczera, R New Bedford Y

Koutoujian, P Newton Y

Kujawski, P Webster Y

Kulik, S Worthington Y

Lantigua, W Lawrence N

Lepper, J Attleboro N

Linsky, D Natick Y

L’Italien, B Andover Y

Loscocco, P Holliston Y

Malia, E Jamaica Plain Y

Mariano, R Quincy Y

McCarthy, D Whitman Y

McMurtry, P Dedham Y

Miceli, J Wilmington N

Moran, M Brighton Y

Murphy, C Burlington Y

Murphy, J Weymouth N

Murphy, K Lowell Y

Nangle, D Lowell Y

Natale, P Woburn X

Naughton, H Clinton Y

Nyman, R Hanover Y

O’Day, J W. Boylston Y

O’Flaherty, E Chelsea Y

Patrick, M Falmouth Y

Peake, S Provincetown Y

Pedone, V Worcester Y

Peisch, A Wellesley Y

Perry, J East Sandwich Y

Peterson, G Grafton N

Petrolati, T Ludlow N

Pignatelli, W Lenox X

Poirier, E North Attleboro N

Polito, K Shrewsbury N

Provost, D Somerville Y

Puppolo, A Springfield N

Quinn, J Dartmouth Y

Reinstein, K Revere Y

Rice, R. Gardner Y

Richardson, P Framingham Y

Rodrigues, M Westport Y

Rogeness, M Longmeadow N

Rogers, J Norwood Y

Ross, R Wrentham Y

Rush, M West Roxbury N

Rushing, B Boston Y

Sanchez, J Jamaica Plain Y

Sandlin, R Agawam Y

Sannicandro, T Ashland Y

Scaccia, A Boston N

Scibak, J South Hadley Y

Sciortino, C Medford Y

Smith, S Everett Y

Smizik, F Brookline Y

Smola, T Palmer N

Speliotis, T Danvers Y

Spellane, R Worcester Y

Speranzo, C Pittsfield Y

Spiliotis, J Peabody Y

St. Fleur, M Dorchester Y

Stanley, H W. Newbury X

Stanley, T Waltham Y

Story, E Amherst Y

Straus, W Mattapoisett Y

Sullivan, D Fall River Y

Swan, B Springfield Y

Timilty, W Milton N

Tobin, S Quincy N

Toomey, T Cambridge Y

Torrisi, D N. Andover Y

Turkington, E Falmouth Y

Turner, C Dennis Y

Vallee, J Franklin Y

Verga, A Gloucester Y

Wagner, J Chicopee N

Wallace, B Boston Y

Walrath, P Stow Y

Walsh, M Dorchester Y

Walsh, S Lynn Y

Walz, M Boston Y

Webster, D Hanson N

Welch, J W. Springfield Y

Wolf, A Cambridge Y