BOSTON (AP)

Gay couples from New Mexico can marry in Massachusetts because their home state has not explicitly banned same-sex marriage, Massachusetts officials say.

New Mexico joins Rhode Island as the only states whose gay residents are allowed to marry in Massachusetts, the only state that has legalized same-sex marriage.

Stanley Nyberg, Massachusetts’ Registrar of Vital Records, instructed city and town clerks in a July 18 notice to give marriage licenses to gay couples from New Mexico.

Massachusetts began marrying same-sex couples in 2004. Then-Gov. Mitt Romney prohibited out-of-state couples from marrying in the state, citing a 1913 law that bars Massachusetts home state expressly prohibited gay marriage.