Legislature again delays gay marriage vote

Decision could have put question on 2008 ballot

By: Jack McCluskey

Posted: 11/10/06

Massachusetts legislators voted 109-86 to recess yesterday's State Constitutional Convention without voting on a bill that would let voters consider banning gay marriage on the 2008 ballot, a decision that could mean the end of the ballot initiative.

The vote to recess, which passed by 10 votes in the Senate and 12 in the House, again delays decision on the ballot question until Jan. 2, 2007 . The vote was originally slated to take place this summer, but on July 12 the legislature voted to delay a vote until Thursday.

Prior to the recess, legislators voted unanimously against invalidating same-sex marriages already conducted since they were legalized in 2004.

When Senate President Robert Travaglini announced the vote's results, he was met by cheers and applause from the crowd of nearly 100 in the State House's gallery.

Many legislators, including Rep. Philip Travis (D-Rehoboth), called the amendment unconstitutional and said further debate on the issue deceives Massachusetts residents by misrepresenting their rights.

"The debate [on this matter] is moot," Travis said. "If any one of you votes for it, you will be violating the Massachusetts Constitution."

Rep. Thomas O'Brien (D-Duxbury, Plymouth ) said the decision is the legislature's responsibility, not the voters themselves. He implored the convention to vote against the proposed amendments.

"You cannot turn back the clock," O'Brien said. "You cannot close Pandora's box. You can only decide where we go from here."

"We have one choice: To stand up and support same-sex marriage in Massachusetts ," he continued.

Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Middlesex), who is the only openly gay member of the Massachusetts Senate, called the ballot initiative a mistake and said it would "create a character assassination field the likes of which we have never seen."

"You don't have to live next to us, you don't have to like us," he said. "We are only asking you today to end the debate so we can . . . enjoy the same rights the rest of you have enjoyed for time immemorial."

However, others said Massachusetts residents have a right to vote on gay marriage, warning that ignoring voters' rights would set a dangerous precedent.

"[Electing Deval Patrick governor] was a grassroots response," said Rep. Marie Parente (D-Worcester). "We should listen to the people - 170,000 people have signed a petition to have it heard. The issue at stake here is people's right to be heard. Forget the name-calling, forget who doesn't want to live next to who.

"What's at stake here is the people's right to be heard," she added.

Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Cambridge) recited the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, reminding everyone, he said, of the power of words.

"There is something remarkable about words that speak to freedom," he said. "What is remarkable about them is that once they are spoken - or written down - they no longer belong to the people who said them but to those who hear them."

Rushing argued that while same-sex marriage is not, in his opinion, a civil right - rather a civil liberty - the current debate echoes the events of 1790, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that slavery was unconstitutional.

"Do you think if I was alive in 1790 that I would've come to this legislature and say 'Let the people vote [on slavery]?'" he asked.

Rushing implored his fellow representatives and senators to side with justice, and not inequality, saying, "do not shove those words back into the inkwell or into the mouths of those who said them."