Shotgun weddings: Massachusetts’ 2004 law sanctioning same-gender marriage has had at least one unintended consequence, as gay and lesbian employees of the Boston Globe are finding out, according to the Boston Herald. Those claiming their partner as a dependent to qualify for dental and health insurance coverage must get married by Jan. 1 or lose their domestic partner benefits.

The irony of the thing is that since gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, companies that offered coverage to same-sex domestic partners because they could not marry in the past now risk being sued for discrimination by straight unmarried employees who are not elligible for domestic partner bennies. Further complicating the situation, employees who work for the Globe in Boston but live in another state are screwed because they can’t legally marry. The Globe said it would continue to offer domestic partner coverage to employees who live outside Massachusetts.