The court that made history in 2003 for allowing gays in Massachusetts to marry today ruled that nonresident gays do not share that right. Today’s decision in Cote-Whitacre v. Department of Public Health was a one-paragraph order followed by three concurring opinions and one dissent. The one-paragraph order said:
“The orders denying the plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunction in these cases are affirmed. A majority of the Justices also agree that, as to the plaintiffs who reside in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, a judgment for the defendants shall enter in the Superior Court because same-sex marriage is prohibited in those States. As to the New York and Rhode Island plaintiffs, their cases shall proceed in the Superior Court, on an expedited basis, for a determination whether same-sex marriage is prohibited in those States. So ordered.”