Boxboro, Mass. ? Gov. Mitt Romney’s top legal counsel told the state’s justices of the peace Sunday to resign if they were unwilling to preside over same-sex marriages starting next month.

Daniel Winslow said Romney expected the justices to comply with the law, even though the Republican governor opposes gay marriage and has sought to delay its court-ordered legalization on May 17.

“Gov. Romney understands and respects that people have very strong personal views both for or against same-gender marriage,” Winslow told justices gathered to learn about the impending changes. “But on this point, the law is clear.”

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November the state must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples by mid-May, which means changes for clerks and justices of the peace.

Refusing to marry gay couples could leave justices individually liable and raises the possibility of punitive damages in court, said David Fried, enforcement chief for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, who also addressed the gathering.

“To the extent that the justices of the peace have taken an oath to follow the law, it seems to me both appropriate and wise to do so,” Fried said.

Nelson Goldin, a state justice of the peace, said he believed marriage should be between a man and a woman only.

“But I took my oath of office and told them I will marry anyone who the commonwealth of Massachusetts says has the right to be wed,” he said.

l Protesters demonstrate outside Lawrence church that offers welcome to gays. Page 2B.