This radical social experiment shall be exported to the other 49 states". He stated its repeal would "open the floodgates for Massachusetts to become the Mecca for identical-sex dolls for women marriage. Reilly took the position that 38 states expressly denied recognition to same-intercourse marriages and that residents of other states may get hold of licenses. In December 1996, contemplating the opportunity of Hawaii legalizing same-sex marriage, Weld mentioned that Massachusetts would acknowledge the validity of identical-intercourse marriages licensed there. Ronald Crews of the Massachusetts Family Institute blamed Finneran's misreading of his personal caucus for the failure of his personal proposed language, a defeat within the convention's opening moments from which Crews found it not possible to recover.