BOSTON — Gay and lesbian couples from out of state who seek marriage licenses here beginning Monday will be turned away, Boston officials said Thursday.
But as Massachusetts prepares to become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, authorities in at least three other communities said they would ignore a 1913 law that bars couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their unions would not be recognized in their home states.
The residency dispute followed an edict from Gov. Mitt Romney, who had his chief legal advisor inform city and town clerks that same-sex couples must swear that they live -- or intend to live -- in Massachusetts if they want to purchase marriage licenses.
The Republican governor, an opponent of marriage for gays and lesbians, also tried unsuccessfully to introduce legislation that would have put same-sex marriage on hold pending passage of a constitutional amendment making it illegal.
In another effort to block same-sex marriage, a group of conservative organizations went to federal court earlier this week, arguing that the high court of Massachusetts had overstepped its authority when it authorized marriage for gays and lesbians.
But U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro on Thursday rejected that argument.
Tauro said it was "the exclusive function" of the Supreme Judicial Court to rule on matters that arose from the oldest constitution in the Western Hemisphere.
"To rule that through its actions [the court] usurped the power of the Massachusetts Legislature and violated the federal Constitution would be to deprive that court of its authority and obligation to consider and resolve, with finality, Massachusetts' constitutional issues," Tauro said.
As the confusion over residency requirements continued, at least one Massachusetts city, Cambridge, has said it will issue licenses to gays and lesbians beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The Cambridge clerk will require that couples declare they are Massachusetts residents.
Neighboring Somerville, however, will not ask couples for proof of residency. Clerks in Worcester, the state's second largest city, and in the Cape Cod resort community of Provincetown also have said they will issue licenses to out-of-state couples.
Merita Hopkins, the chief lawyer for Boston, said the city would grant marriage licenses to "everyone except partners who do not reside in Massachusetts, and neither one of which intends to reside in Massachusetts." But, Hopkins said, the city will not demand documentation from people seeking a marriage license to prove state residency.
