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Mass. Sets Gay Marriage Convention
Date
By AP from the NYTimes on the Web,
August 25, 2005
BOSTON, Aug. 24 -- State
legislators voted Wednesday to hold a Constitutional Convention next month to
debate a proposed amendment that would replace gay marriage in Massachusetts
with Vermont-style civil unions.
Members of the House and Senate have already given initial approval to the
amendment, but the state constitution requires them to approve identical
language in two successive sessions before the amendment can be put before state
voters.
The Supreme Judicial Court legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts in 2003,
making it the only state where such unions are legal. Opponents then
backed a constitutional amendment that would outlaw gay marriage but permit
civil unions.
Civil unions would provide same-sex partners the same legal benefits without the
status of marriage.
Legislative approval of the amendment has been thrown into doubt after some
supporters in the initial vote announced they had changed their mind. The
most recent is Rep. Anthony Petruccelli, a Democrat, who was quoted this week as
saying he will not vote for the proposal despite supporting it last year.
Petruccelli told Bay Windows, which features gay news, that legalized gay
marriage has ''made strong unions among people who have not had the opportunity
until that time to get married.''
The legislative session on Wednesday, itself technically a Constitutional
Convention, lasted barely a minute. The motion to reconvene Sept. 14
passed immediately on a voice vote.
In June, the Massachusetts Family Institute submitted a citizen's initiative
petition that would amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man
and a woman.
Gov. Mitt Romney withdrew his initial support for a compromise, and is backing
the initiative petition. He said the compromise ''muddied'' the issue of
gay marriage by legalizing civil unions.
The initiative is now being reviewed, along with all other proposed 2006 ballot
questions, by Attorney General Tom Reilly. If it is approved, proponents
would have to gather about 66,000 certified signatures to get it on the ballot.
Currently, Vermont and Connecticut are the only states to provide for civil
unions.
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