Thursday, 4:30 PM
Romney urges legislature to vote on gay-marriage ban
By Scott Helman, Globe Staff
Governor Mitt Romney, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, and a phalanx of religious figures called today on the Legislature to honor a scheduled vote next month on a proposed gay-marriage ban, saying any move by gay-rights advocates to kill the measure would be a subversion of democracy.
Two weeks before lawmakers are set to take up the proposed constitutional amendment, Romney and the religious leaders are clearly concerned that same-sex marriage supporters on Beacon Hill will devise a tactic to prevent the measure from even coming up for debate. Such an outcome could abruptly end the long and active campaign to put the ban to voters in 2008.
"We ask for one thing: the constitutionally prescribed vote of the Legislature,'' Romney said at a State House news conference. "Let the people speak.''
The fears of Romney and other gay-marriage opponents may be well-founded: Advocates for same-sex marriage say they'll do whatever it takes to make sure the amendment dies.
"Every possible option is on the table as far as we're concerned,'' said Marc Solomon, campaign director for the group MassEquality.
