Boston – Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday again avoided taking a formal stand on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, recessing a constitutional convention instead of taking up the thorny issue.
If lawmakers do not vote on the measure before the next legislature takes office, the measure will not appear on the November 2008 ballot. A vote appeared unlikely because they recessed until Jan. 2, the last day this legislature is in session.
Lawmakers voted 196-0 to reject a proposed amendment that would invalidate thousands of same-sex marriages already conducted but decided to recess without voting on another measure that would bar such marriages only after the amendment was enacted.
Supporters of the less restrictive measure, the subject of a petition drive, accused supporters of same-sex marriage of using the more punitive question to detract attention from their own.
They said voters deserved a chance to decide whether same- sex marriage – imposed on the state by its highest court – should remain legal, especially since 170,000 of them signed petitions calling for the measure.
“I’m probably 3,000 feet to the right of Attila the Hun. But the gracious people, the socially conscious people, the liberal people, you’re the ones who always want everyone to be heard. What about these 170,000 people?” said Democratic Rep. Marie Parente.
Democratic Sen. Jarrett Barrios, a gay member of the legislature, pointed to his wedding ring as he warned colleagues that putting same-sex marriage on the ballot would open the doors to a campaign vilifying gays.
“You don’t have to live next to us; you don’t have to like us,” Barrios said. “We are only asking you today to end the debate so that we can sleep easily knowing that, while you may not live next to us or even like us, we will at least have the right to enjoy the same rights the rest of you enjoy.”
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November 2003 that the state’s constitution guarantees gays and lesbians the right to marry in Massachusetts. Those weddings began in May 2004, and since then, more than 8,000 couples have tied the knot.
