Many Out-of-Staters Getting Married in Massachusetts

The media has been very aware that a tremendous number of same-sex individuals who applied for a marriage license in Massachusetts were not residents, nor had any intention of being residents in the Bay State. In some cases, the couples flat-out lied about their residency. In other cases, the clerks were all to eager to issue licenses, even when the individuals applying could only produce out-of-state identification.

Below is a summary of many of the stories about out-of-state homosexuals who came to Massachusetts to fraudulently obtain marriage licenses.

DATE	HOMETOWN	SOURCE	REPORTER	EXCERPT
5/14	Oklahoma City, OK	NY Times	Pam Belluck	Trey Watts and Darin Moore have never been to Massachusetts. They live in Oklahoma City, where Mr. Watts sells used cars and Mr. Moore is a beauty consultant at a salon. But they plan to marry in Massachusetts this month, one of a first wave of gay couples expecting to do so when same-sex marriages become legal in the state next week. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/14/national/14marry.html http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/page.html?article=125858
5/17	Minnesota	AP	Ken Maguire	"It's the next evolution in the history of marriage," said John Yarbrough of Minnesota, who traveled to Provincetown to marry his partner, Cody Rogahn. "The idea of who you love shouldn't be dictated by the government." http://www.kstp.com/article/view/143758/ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04138/317600.stm
5/17	Glenwood, MN	NY Times	Warren St. John	The couple with the first appointment Monday for a license is from Minnesota: Jonathan Yarbrough, 30, and Cody Rogahn, 55. They were steeling themselves to walk the gantlet of television cameras. "I didn't plan to be the first," Mr. Yarbrough said Sunday, adding that he had not yet told his family about his plans. "I think I'm going to call them tonight," he said.
5/17	Anniston, AL	AP	Theo Emery	Still, officials in Provincetown, Worcester and Somerville, have said they will not enforce Romney's order and will give licenses to any couples who ask, as long as they sign the customary affidavit attesting that they know of no impediment to their marriage. Sure enough, Chris McCary, 43, and his partner of six years, John Sullivan, 37, of Anniston, Ala., were first in line outside town hall in Provincetown on Monday morning. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040517/us_nm/rights_gays_provi ncetown_dc_1
5/17	Anniston, AL	Reuters	Greg Frost	In Provincetown, two gay men from Anniston, Alabama, were among the first out-ofstate couples to wed and said they would try to have their union recognized back home - a move likely to wind up in court. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/national/18gay.html?ex=1085544000&en=8de2 6131e9488ebd&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1
5/17	Manhattan, NY	NY Times	Pam Belluck	One of the waiting couples, Tanya Wexler, 33, and Amy Zimmerman, 31, from Manhattan, have lived together for 13 years and have three children. One of them, a 10-month-old girl, Ruby, was in a stroller as the couple stood outside. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/17/national/17CND-GAYS.html
5/17	Manhattan, NY	NY Times	Pam Belluck	Keith Hershberger, 54, and Kevin Green, 50, drove up from Brooklyn to become the 32nd couple to apply for a license. On their form, they initially wrote that they were from New York City and intended to stay there, but a clerk told them that they would not issue them a license unless they intended to move to Massachusetts. So they crossed out New York City and wrote in Shelburne Falls, Mass. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/17/national/17CND-GAYS.html
5/17	Portland, ME	AP/Boston Globe	Staff	Liz and Lauren Rose-Cohen, both 29, of Portland, Maine, decided Sunday night they would apply for a marriage license on Monday. And though they could have claimed legal Massachusetts residence -- because they have a room at Liz's parents' house in Ashburnham -- they decided to apply in Worcester in part for the civil disobedience of it.
5/18	NYC, NY	Washington Post	Alan Cooperman	Edward Debonis and Vincent Maniscalco of New York City filed their intention to marry in Somerville. "We've had other opportunities, but we wanted to be part of what we consider to be civil rights history," Debonis said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34642-2004May17.html
5/18	ME, CT, RI, MS, IA	Worcester Telegram and Gazette	Martin Luttrell	Mr. Rushford said that he took applications from 12 couples who live out of state. The most were from New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and one each from Maine, Iowa and Mississippi. http://www.telegram.com
5/18	RI, NY, CT	WCVB Boston		“Rhode Island would recognize any marriage validly performed in another state," Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said. In Connecticut, the attorney general wrote to Gov. Mitt Romney saying "same -sex marriages are not authorized in Connecticut . But that fact does not make them automatically void, because our state has no statute declaring same-sex marriages void." New York's attorney general is taking a similar stance. http://news.yahoo.com/?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040518/lo_WCVB/2211367
5/18	N/A	AP		But clerks in Provincetown, Worcester, Springfield and Somerville said publicly that they would issue licenses to all comers, regardless of where they lived, as long as they signed a form attesting that there was no known legal impediment to their union. Out-of-state couples who exchanged vows in Massachusetts are certain to face legal battles for recognition in their home states -- and perhaps in Massachusetts as well if Romney moves to nullify their marriages. "It's America in 2004. I think legal action is guaranteed," said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of the gay-rights group Lambda Legal. "It's going to take the legal system and the political system quite some time to work this all out." http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/18/gay.marriage.out.of.state.ap/index.ht ml
5/18	Manhattan, NY	New York Times	Pam Belluck	New York's attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, had issued a similar opinion, and, despite the uncertainty, Cris Goldman-Beam and Robin Goldman-Beam of Manhattan came to Somerville on the Chinatown bus, saying they were not worried about legal challenges to the marriage license they applied for in Massachusetts. "We'll go forward as if there will be no bumps, and if there are bumps we'll take them," said Chris Goldman-Beam. "We're thinking of renting a car to drive back to New York, attach `Just Married' signs, and drive by Spitzer's office." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/national/18MARR.html
5/18	FL, MD, NY	Boston Globe	Yvonne Abraham	In Somerville, the only city in metropolitan Boston where officials had declared their willingness -- even eagerness -- to marry same-sex couples from outside Massachusetts, multiple couples from Florida, Maryland, and New York arrived seeking marriage licenses. By late afternoon, the city had taken 37 applications for licenses, seven of which were from out -of-state residents. While officials in other communities were asking couples whether they live in, or intend to live in, Massachusetts, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone greeted one lesbian couple from Gainesville, Fla., by asking about the fortunes of the University of Florida Gators. And clerks did not blanch as several couples offered out-of-state drivers licenses as identification. http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/articles/2004/05/18/wedding_da y_1084874716/
5/18	N/A	Reuters	Greg Frost	Gay rights advocates vowed Tuesday to press for full marriage rights for same-sex couples across the nation even as conservatives campaigned to undo the legal gay unions that just began in Massachusetts. http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/articles/2004/05/18/us_gays_vo w_to_press_marriage_fight_nationwide/
5/18	N/A	Boston Globe	Rachel Lewis and Stephanie Ebbert	According to a Globe survey, 1 of 10 of the same-sex applicants for marriage licenses yesterday came from out of state. But the survey made clear that out -of-state couples gravitated toward municipalities such as Provincetown, Somerville, and Worcester, where clerks had publicly stated their willingness to marry out-of-state couples. But one-third of the couples surveyed in Provincetown and one-quarter of those surveyed in Somerville and Worcester, said they live out of state. http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2004/05/18/ri_conn_may_gr ant_recognition/
5/18	CN, RI, and Beyond	Boston Globe	Rachel Lewis and Stephanie Ebbert	The opinions, while not binding, further complicate a central question surrounding the dawn of same-gender marriage in Massachusetts: Whether out-of-state couples have a right to marry here, and whether any gay weddings performed here will be recognized in other jurisdictions. Scores of gay couples from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and beyond arrived in Massachusetts yesterday to apply for marriage licenses in sympathetic places like such as Worcester, Provincetown, and Somerville. http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/articles/2004/05/18/ri_conn_ma y_grant_recognition/
5/19	Vermont, All Out-of-State Couples	Boston Globe	Yvonne Abraham and Frank Philips	Keith Bergman, Provincetown town manager, said his staff was busy yesterday photocopying the 154 applications filled out by all same-sex couples Monday, and the smaller number of licenses issued. But Bergman warned that Romney was too late if he hoped to use the documents to stop out-of-staters from marrying here. "I know of at least one couple that went before Orleans District Court for a waiver yesterday, received it, and got married," Bergman said. "They said `I do,' and they're from Vermont." After advice from the office of Attorney General Thomas Reilly, Somerville officials decided to comply, but only after tomorrow. Reilly declined to comment yesterday. "There is a worrisome focus on these out-of-state couples," Curtatone said. "If I wasn't required, I wouldn't do it." http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/articles/2004/05/19/romney_eye s_order_on_licenses/
5/19	All Over	AP	David Crary	More than 1,000 same-sex couples, including scores from other states, have obtained marriage licenses since Massachusetts on Monday became the first state to allow gays to wed. http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/world/8699521.htm
5/19	Providence	AP	Unknown	PICTURE CAPTION: Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has said he would void the marriage licenses of out-of-state gay couples, such as Judi McNeil-Beckwith (left) and her partner, Lee McNeil-Beckwith, of Providence, R.I. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/8698420.htm
5/19	MN, ND	The Forum	Dave Foster	In North Dakota, marriage is defined as a civil contract between one man and one woman. In Minnesota, the law prohibits marriages of the same sex, even if they are recognized by another state. The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Friday to block gay marriages in Massachusetts – the first state to sanction such unions – means court challenges likely will test those laws, however, said Steven Cahill, a Moorhead attorney. For instance, a gay couple married in Massachusetts could move to Minnesota and try to assert rights of marriage there. Assuming those rights get denied, the couple could take its case to court. Eventually, the state's Supreme Court would decide the matter, Cahill said. http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=58059&section=news