Out-of-state gay couples may get to marry in Mass.

The State Senate is expected to vote today to repeal a 95-year-old state law that has stopped many out-of-state gay couples from getting married here.

Since gay marriage went into effect here in 2004, non-residents have been turned away by a 1913 law that says couples of any kind cannot marry in Massachusetts if the unions are not recognized in their home states.

The Senate voted 28-3 to repeal the law — originally enacted to limit interracial marriages —through a budget amendment in 2004, but it was dropped by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. Supporters of same-sex marriage expect a better outcome this time around.

“This would take away the last piece of discriminatory law that’s still in the books in Massachusetts toward same-sex couples,” said Marc Solomon, executive director of MassEquality.

Solomon said the allowance of “thousands” of marriages in the Bay State would “provide an economic benefit at a time when we need it.” California, the only state to honor same-sex marriages to non-residents, is expected to generate nearly $700 million in revenue through such unions in the next three years, according to a UCLA School of Law report released last month.

But opponents worry repealing the law could cause several couples married here to seek legal rights at home.
“The 1913 law preserves and protects states’ rights and their own constitutions,” said Kris Mineau, president of Massachusetts Family Institute, in a statement. “To dismantle it will create an explosion of new and costly lawsuits, and further erode the people’s right to decide on the definition of marriages.”

If approved, the repeal bill will meet House debate before moving on to the desk of Gov. Deval Patrick.