Boston ? Out-of-state gay couples got one step closer to a Massachusetts wedding Tuesday when the state Senate voted to repeal a 1913 law that has been used to bar them from marrying here.

The law prohibits couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they can’t legally wed in their home states.

The House is expected to vote on the repeal measure later this week. The Senate action came on a voice vote.

After Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages in 2004 under a court order, then-Gov. Mitt Romney ordered town clerks to enforce the then-little-known 1913 law and deny licenses to out-of-state couples.

That move blocked Maine residents Michael Thorne, 55, and James Theberge, 50, from getting married in Massachusetts four years ago. They were among eight out-of-state gay couples who sued but lost in 2006 when the same court that allowed gay marriage refused to toss out the 1913 law.