Mass. judge says gay couples from RI can wed in Bay State

It's not saying that the Massachusetts law is invalid. What he's saying is that the Massachusetts law is valid, that it permits an out of state couple to be married in Massachusetts if their marriage is not forbidden in their home state, and that in his opinion same-sex marriage is not forbidden in Rhode Island.

Now, when these two get back to Rhode Island, they'll likely be turned down when they seek to get their marriage recognized there. And then they'll appeal, and it'll go to the Supremes, and they'll have to figure out whether and how to apply the "Full Faith and Credit" clause in the Constitution with regards to this.

Now, that clause says that Congress has the power to regulate how public acts of one state will apply in another with appropriate legislation. And the Congress has, in fact, passed a law saying that on a Federal basis, marriage is only valid between a man and a woman. So the Supremes could say that that Congress has passed the appropriate law for this circumstance, and that therefore Rhode Island doesn't need to recognize this "marriage". We'll see.

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