Massachusetts legislature rejects proposal to ban gay marriage in state constitution

BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Legislature rejected a proposed change to the state constitution Wednesday aimed at banning gay marriage, a striking reversal that preserves the state's status as the only place in the nation where same-sex couples can wed.\nA year after Massachusetts politicians appeared destined to undo a court order that has allowed thousands of same-sex couples to marry since May 17, 2004, the Legislature voted 157-39 against the proposed constitutional amendment.\nIt was the second time the Legislature had confronted the measure. Lawmakers were required to approve it in two consecutive sessions before the proposal could move to the statewide ballot in 2006 for a final decision by voters.\nThe measure, which would have allowed Vermont-style civil unions, won passage by a 105-92 vote last year. But the political and social landscape had changed dramatically since then.\nGone was the intensity, the seemingly endless debate and, in some quarters, the taste for stripping away the right for gay and lesbian couples to marry.\n"Gay marriage has begun, and life has not changed for the citizens of the commonwealth, with the exception of those who can now marry," said state Sen. Brian Lees, a Republican who had been a co-sponsor of the amendment. "This amendment, which was an appropriate measure or compromise a year ago, is no longer, I feel, a compromise today."\nThe proposal also was opposed by critics of gay marriage, who want to push for a more restrictive measure.\n"The union of two women and two men can never consummate a marriage. It's physically impossible," said state Rep. Phil Travis, a Democrat. "The other 49 states are right and we are wrong."\nLawmakers are already preparing for a battle over another proposed amendment that would ban both gay marriage and civil unions. The earliest the initiative could end up on the ballot is 2008.\n"We're excited. We're pumped. This is great. This is exactly what we wanted," said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.\nThe state's highest court ruled in November 2003 that same-sex couples had a right under the state constitution to marry. Now, more than 6,100 gay and lesbian couples have been wed in Massachusetts, though officials have barred out-of-state couples from getting married here, citing a 1913 law that prohibits couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home states. A lawsuit challenging the legality of that law is pending.\nWithin a year of the first Massachusetts marriages, 11 states pushed through constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, joining six others that had done so earlier.\nThe Connecticut Legislature approved civil unions in April, joining Vermont in creating the designation that gives the same legal rights as marriage without calling it such. Earlier this month, California lawmakers passed a measure legalizing same-sex marriage, though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised to veto it.