Governor Deval Patrick signs Mass. 1913 law repeal

With two strokes of the pen Gov. Deval Patrick opened the borders of the Commonwealth to out-of-state same-sex couples hoping to marry and granted equal Medicaid benefits to married same-sex couples in Massachusetts. Patrick signed the two major pieces of LGBT-rights legislation, a bill repealing the so-called 1913 law and the MassHealth Equality bill, at a press conference July 31 in front of the Grand Staircase in the State House, flanked by House Speaker Sal DiMasi, Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, dozens of lawmakers, and a crowd of LGBT advocates. Lawmakers in the House and Senate pushed both pieces of legislation through both chambers in the last days of the legislative session, which ended the day of the bill signing.

"I am so pleased to be standing with my colleagues in government here with the leadership of the Speaker and the Senate President, who is today represented by the extraordinary Dianne Wilkerson, to be with you all to sign two bills that confirm a simple truth, and that is that in Massachusetts equal means equal," Patrick said at the start of the signing ceremony, prompting cheers and loud applause from the crowd.

Both pieces of legislation won final approval from the legislature two days before the signing ceremony. The 1913 repeal law, which passed on a voice vote in the Senate earlier this month, passed the House July 29 on a 119-36 vote. The 1913 law, which banned Massachusetts from marrying couples who could not marry in their home state, was revived after decades of non-enforcement in 2004 by former Gov. Mitt Romney to block out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts. Opponents of the 1913 law charged that it was passed in 1913 in part to prevent interracial couples from outside Massachusetts to travel to the state to evade their home states' anti-miscegenation laws. Patrick told the crowd that repealing the 1913 law and opening the state's doors to couples from out of state continues Massachusetts' tradition as a leader in civil rights.

"Today by repealing a nearly century-old law we affirm the right of same-sex couples from out of state to marry in Massachusetts, to enjoy all of the protections of our good laws. Today by repealing this law we continue to lead the way as a national leader. Today by repealing this law we have affirmed the democratic principle that all people come before their government as equal," said Patrick.

He also praised Massachusetts for its leadership in passing the MassHealth Equality bill, which requires the state to provide the same benefits married same-sex and heterosexual couples through MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program. MassHealth was prohibited from recognizing same-sex marriages because it receives funding from the federal government, which is barred from recognizing same-sex marriages by the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The MassHealth Equality bill forces the state to pick up the additional costs of providing the benefits to same-sex married couples that they would receive if they were in a heterosexual marriage. Patrick called the bill "a milestone in our fight for equality."

"The MassHealth Equality bill is the first piece of legislation in the Commonwealth to codify the Goodridge decision extending legal marriage and its protections, benefits and obligations to same-sex married couples in our state, and it's the first piece of legislation in the nation to reject discrimination in the federal Defense of Marriage Act," said Patrick.

Joining Patrick at the podium to address the crowd were DiMasi and Wilkerson, who spoke on behalf of Sen. President Therese Murray, who was unable to attend. DiMasi, a longtime advocate for LGBT rights, joked that back in the '80s he was considered out of step with the establishment because of his staunch support for gay rights.

"I have been fighting for the rights of gays and lesbians since the 1980s, and proud of it," said DiMasi. "And ladies and gentlemen, back then I was a radical. ... Look how far we've come."

Wilkerson, the champion of the 1913 repeal bill in the Senate, spoke about the law's alleged racist origins and described its repeal as the end of a "dark and evil chapter" in the state's history.

"Today to me the celebration is that we close a chapter, a very dark and evil chapter, in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and we start a very new one," said Wilkerson.

Following the speeches Gov. Patrick sat down at the table prepared at the foot of the staircase, put on his glasses, and proceeded to sign both bills into law. The crowd greeted each signing with raucus applause and cheers. After the signing, before Patrick could rise from the table, the crowd broke out into a chorus of "Happy Birthday," to mark the governor's birthday.

Following the bill signings Patrick told reporters he had few concerns about the impact that the 1913 law repeal would have on other states. Opponents of the repeal have argued that couples who marry in Massachusetts and return home will press their home state to recognize their marriages.

"Listen, what we can do is tend our own garden and make sure that it's weeded, and think we weeded out a discriminatory law that we should have. ... I think other states will make their own judgements, and I expect them to. That's their business," Patrick said.

He told reporters that his daughter Katherine had hoped to attend the signing ceremony but was working that day.

"She wanted to be here today," Patrick said. "She works and so couldn't have gotten here until the end of the day, and I was almost tempted to ask my team to schedule this for later in the day so she could. But we wanted to make sure we could accommodate the Speaker and the Senate leadership."