Massachusetts matches California

Yesterday, Deval Patrick, the first black governor of Massachusetts signed the bill repealing an archaic law created to keep whites and blacks from getting married in the state if their home state didn't allow interracial marriages.

While now fallen in disuse, the law had been resurrected by the opponents of same-sex marriage (first and foremost, Mitt Romney) to block gay couples from all over the country from coming to the state and get married.

Now that stupid last impediment is gone, and we can all, gay and straight, get married in the Bay State if we so desire. Too bad they didn't allow gays to do it right away, or Ray and I could have gotten married there instead of in Connecticut, where we had to get a civil union.

Oh well, same difference I guess, but I'm happy about the developments, and I have to say that I was surprised by how quickly this whole thing happened. Sometimes, progress really does come in burst, and happens suddenly, right in front of your eyes.

From BostonHerald.com:

Gay couples from outside Massachusetts are now free to marry in the state.

Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill today repealing a 1913 law that barred couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union would not be valid in their own states.

Massachusetts has allowed gay marriages since 2004, but the move to repeal the law makes the state equal with California, which recently became the only other state to legalize gay marriage and has no residency requirement.

Out-of-state gay couples can marry as soon as today, since lawmakers included a provision to make the repeal go into effect immediately.
[...]
Patrick, the state’s first black governor, said he was proud to support the repeal of the law, which he said had its roots in racism. It was first passed 95 years ago as states tried to prevent interracial marriages.

He said the repeal shows that in Massachusetts, “equal means equal.”

“In five years now, ... the sky has not fallen, the earth has not opened to swallow us all up, and more to the point, thousands and thousands of good people - contributing members of our society - are able to make free decisions about their personal future, and we ought to seek to affirm that every chance we can,” said Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter revealed recently she is a lesbian.