Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick ordered the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to register 26 same-sex marriages that were prohibited from being registered under former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The out-of-state couples were married in 2004 by four Massachusetts towns and cities that defied Romney’s order not to marry out-of-state same-sex couples.

Last year the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld a Massachusetts statute which prohibits couples from marrying in the state if the marriage would be invalid in their own state. Governor Patrick has stated that he would support the repeal of this statute. Massachusetts is currently the only state which legally recognizes same-sex marriages. Massachusetts lawmakers lobbied earlier this year for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. However, the proposed ban would not affect the legal recognition of existing same-sex marriages.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/04/massachusetts-governor-orders-out-of.php