06.14.07
Mass. lawmakers nix ballot measure regarding marriage
Massachusetts lawmakers blocked a proposed ballot measure Thursday that would have let voters decide whether to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the only state that allows it.
The narrow vote was a victory for marriage equality advocates and a blow to efforts to reverse the historic court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state. More than 8,500 gay couples have married in Massachusetts since it became legal in May 2004.
To get the proposed ban on the 2008 statewide ballot would have required 50 votes. It got 45, with 151 lawmakers opposed. There was no debate.
As the tally was announced, the halls of the statehouse erupted in applause.
”We’re proud of our state today, and we applaud the legislature for showing that Massachusetts is strongly behind fairness,” said Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.
Opponents of same-sex marriage vowed to press on, but Thursday’s defeat after more than three years of sometimes wrenching debate could prove insurmountable. Any effort to mount a new ballot question would take years at a time political support in Massachusetts is swinging firmly behind marriage equality.
For gay couples, the vote marked what could be the end of a struggle that began in 2001, when seven same-sex couples, denied marriage licenses, sued in Suffolk superior court.