Massachusetts is the cradle of freedom and promoting human rights is essential in guaranteeing that freedom to everyone.  Great progress has been made in expanding human rights over the years, but more can be done.  We have an obligation to uphold fair treatment and equal access for all of our citizens, and I take that obligation very seriously.

This term, I have filed a bill repealing the antiquated 1913 law which forbids city and town clerks from issuing marriage licenses to couples from out of state if such marriages violate the law of the state in which the couple resides. This law was passed in 1913 to prevent Massachusetts from marrying inter-racial couples who resided in states that forbade such marriages.   Although our society no longer holds such prejudices, this law remains on the books and it is now used to prevent out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts.  In its Goodridge decision the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found that homosexual couples have the same right as heterosexual couples in committing to marriage.  We should not be using an outdated law to deny these marriage rights that are guaranteed in our constitution.

Last year the Massachusetts was embroiled in what has become a national debate over the rights of our gay and lesbian families and neighbors. The Legislature is currently considering a constitutional amendment that would take the unprecedented move of denying rights and responsibilities to people in Massachusetts. I have always stood up for the rights of all my constituents and will continue to oppose any attempts to write discrimination into the Constitution. It is wrong to play politics with the Constitution and wrong to amend it to take rights away from anyone. It's a shame that with so many challenges facing our local cities and towns, some in the legislature have chosen to drag the state through a long and bitter political fight over changing the constitution.

Click here to read Senator Barrios’ speech before the Constitutional Convention on marriage rights and the Constitution.

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