Boston ? The Democrat-controlled state Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to repeal the 1913 law that Republican Gov. Mitt Romney is using to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

The repeal was approved 28-3. But for the law to be wiped from the books, the repeal would have to get through the far more conservative House and then survive a certain veto by Romney.

The 91-year-old law bars nonresidents from marrying in Massachusetts if the union would not be legal in their home state. Because no other state allows gay marriage, Romney has argued that out-of-state couples are prohibited from marrying here.

The governor previously said he would declare any licenses issued to out-of-state gay couples void, and he threatened legal action against any clerks who issued them.

Democratic state Sen. Jarrett Barrios, a gay lawmaker who sponsored the repeal, cited the law’s “shameful origins” — it was enacted to bar the recognition of interracial marriages.