Vote on SSM Is
Delayed in Massachusetts
By KATIE ZEZIMA,
NYTimes on the Web, July 13, 2006
BOSTON, July 12 -- The
Massachusetts legislature on Wednesday postponed until after Election Day what
promises to be an impassioned debate and vote on a constitutional amendment to
ban same-sex marriage, which has been legal here for two years.
Meeting in a joint session, legislators spent four hours debating matters
scheduled ahead of the marriage amendment, which was next to last on the agenda,
and voted, 100 to 91, to recess until Nov. 9.
If the amendment is approved by one-quarter of the legislature this year and
next, it will be placed on the ballot as a referendum in November 2008.
The postponement infuriated opponents of same-sex marriage and galvanized its
supporters.
“We now have four more months to show legislators how well marriage equality is
working in Massachusetts,” Marc Solomon, a spokesman for the main group opposing
the amendment, said in a statement. “The legislature should dispense with
this undemocratic, discriminatory amendment and move on to the real concerns
facing Massachusetts.”
Arline Isaacson, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political
Caucus, said, “We do feel like we dodged a bullet, because had there been a vote
today we would have lost.”
Lisa Barstow, a spokeswoman for voteonmarriage.org, which gathered 170,000
petition signatures, a state record, said the legislature ignored the will of
the voters.
“It’s a travesty,” Ms. Barstow said. “Whenever the people want their
voices heard, the legislature stalls, delays or sends to the political graveyard
whatever citizens are asking to be heard about.”
A spokeswoman for the Senate president, Robert Travaglini, said that legislators
worked through much of the agenda and that he was committed to having a vote on
the marriage amendment by the end of the year.
Gov. Mitt Romney, an opponent of same-sex marriage who last week pushed for a
vote on the issue at a news conference with Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the
archbishop of Boston, said then and again on Wednesday that he was trying to
ensure that the issue would be voted on.
“In a democracy, the people are sovereign,” Mr. Romney, a Republican, said in a
statement. “Tens of thousands of citizens have petitioned the government
for the right to have their voices heard. They have played by the rules.
This issue won’t go away until the people are heard.”
Opponents of same-sex marriage said they planned to use the recess as a campaign
issue, as the entire legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, is up for
re-election this year.
“We want to make sure there is a bright line drawn between those who wanted to
recess and those who wanted to get the job done today,” Ms. Barstow said.
Ms. Isaacson said supporters were not worried.
“They cannot make a campaign issue out of legislators’ simply postponing debate
until a later date,” Ms. Isaacson said. “No one’s saying it won’t be voted
on. They just said we’ll do it later.”
Supporters of same-sex marriage challenged the legality of the measure, saying
an amendment could not challenge the ruling of the state’s highest court, which
ruled in 2003 that same-sex couples had the right to marry under the
Massachusetts Constitution. The same court ruled on Monday that the
petition was legal and should be heard by the legislature.
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