US town defiant over gay unions

The issue of same-sex unions has sparked nation-wide protests

A Massachusetts town has voted to defy the state governor by issuing marriage certificates to same-sex couples from other states.

Town leaders in Provincetown on Cape Cod said they would give a licence to couples who attested they knew of no legal impediment to their union.

But Governor Mitt Romney says a 1913 law prohibits marriages that would be illegal in the couple's home state.

Gay marriages are expected to become legal in Massachusetts on 17 May.

Legal action

The move comes after the state's supreme court made a landmark ruling in November 2003 that it is unconstitutional under state law to ban gay marriage.

However, Gov Romney has threatened legal action against clerks who defy his interpretation of the law.

He told them to seek proof of residency or the intention to move to Massachusetts from all couples seeking to get married as of 17 May.

"We are a nation of laws," Gov Romney said in a statement quoted by the AP news agency.

"If they choose to break the law, we will take the appropriate enforcement action, refuse to recognise those marriages, and inform the parties that the marriage is null and void," he added.

State legislators have proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages, but would allow civil unions.

If the proposal passes further legal hurdles, it will go to the voters in a referendum in autumn 2006.