Mass. Senate eyes civil unions

Leaders of the Massachusetts Senate are preparing to push legislation to establish civil unions for gays and lesbians, a form of legal recognition for same-sex relationships that only Vermont has enacted into law.

The move by Senate President Robert E. Travaglini and his top lieutenants comes as the state's highest court considers whether to legalize gay marriage. Increasingly, some members of the Senate believe the court may direct the Legislature to address the question of the legal status of same-sex relationships, and they want to be prepared.

"Being an advocate of civil rights and an advocate of fairness, and having supported domestic partnerships 20 years ago, it's just a natural progression for me," Travaglini told the Globe in an interview Friday. "I understand the concept of fairness and will be supportive of it."

Travaglini said he is committed to bringing civil union legislation to the floor of the Senate for a vote, but will wait until the Supreme Judicial Court case is concluded before doing so. While many on Beacon Hill expect the SJC to issue its decision this fall, there is no formal deadline by which the court must act.

The Senate president's support for civil unions sets up a potential battle with House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, a socially conservative Democrat and opponent of legal recognition for same-sex couples. Governor Mitt Romney also opposes civil unions.

Travaglini, a Roman Catholic who is married and has three children, said his religious faith blocks him from backing the right of gays to marry, but he said he feels strongly that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same civil protections that heterosexual couples enjoy.

Civil unions, as established in Vermont, offer gay couples who register with the state the rights and benefits of marriage under state law, such as the right to jointly file state tax returns, make medical decisions for a partner, and inherit property. But the unions are not recognized under federal law, prohibiting the couples from receiving federal benefits. The California Assembly recently passed a civil union bill more limited than Vermont's, and Governor Gray Davis is expected to sign it into law this month.

Gay rights advocates say they are generally pleased with Travaglini's position, though disappointed that he opposes gay marriage.

"We would of course prefer the Legislature to pass marriage rights. Nonetheless we hugely appreciate [Travaglini's] openness on this," said Arline Isaacson, a board member of MassEquality, a coalition of gay- and lesbian-rights advocacy groups. "Travaglini is clearly striving to do the right thing, and that's very, very significant and meaningful."

Philip W. Johnston, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said he was "delighted" by Travaglini's position, which is consistent with the party's official platform.

"I think the Senate president's position is historic in that he is signaling a dramatic shift in political support in favor of civil unions for gay and lesbian citizens," Johnston said. "This has enormous implications both within Massachusetts and nationally. It's a big deal."

Passage of a civil union bill would probably be an uphill fight on Beacon Hill, where more limited measures to grant domestic benefits to gay couples have stalled in the House for years, despite approval in the Senate. Senator Robert A. Havern III, an Arlington Democrat and the assistant majority whip, said he believes there is enough support among senators to pass civil union legislation, but stressed he has not conducted a formal poll of members.

In the House, Finneran has blocked other gay rights measures from reaching the floor for a vote.

Groups such as the Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage also would probably lobby against any bill granting legal recognition to same-sex couples. Leaders of the organization could not be reached for comment Friday, but Naftoly Bier, a Boston rabbi involved in the group's creation, said members see civil unions as essentially the same as gay marriage.

"The idea of a marriage between a man and a woman is fundamental to our society," said Bier, dean of Kollel of Greater Boston, a Talmudic research academy. "A change in that would have repercussions harmful to society. There are many, many people who are emotionally and intellectually opposed to these same sex marriages and unions. What would happen, I don't know."

The political strategizing on both sides is complicated by the court's consideration of the gay marriage case, and the uncertainty about when the court will rule. Travaglini acknowledged that an SJC decision that legalizes gay marriage would render moot the Senate plan for civil unions.

Some Democrats close to Travaglini have been urging him to take up a civil union bill prior to an SJC ruling, saying the court could take too long to decide the case, and the Senate should seize the initiative. One avenue to move the measure quickly, the senators said, would be to tack a rider onto an unrelated bill in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

"More than one senator has said out loud that we should be acting instead of reacting," said Senator Frederick E. Berry, the majority leader.

But Travaglini Friday stressed that he will not preempt the court's decision. Three virtually identical civil union bills have been filed in the Legislature, all of which are now before the Joint Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by the more conservative House. The House has 11 members on the panel; the Senate has seven.A hearing on the bills is scheduled for later next month, but it remains unclear if Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty, the Chelsea Democrat who serves as House chairman of the committee, would be inclined to release any of the bills for a vote in the Senate.

The panel's senators will seek sympathetic House members on the committee to join them in voting to report one of the bills to the Senate. If the bill continues to be bottlenecked in the committee, backers of civil unions in the Senate would then seek to find another way to move the measure directly to the Senate floor, such as through a budget amendment. It is not clear how Travaglini would respond to such an attempt after the court's decision has been handed down.

O'Flaherty is out of the country and could not be reached for comment.

In addition, a spokesman for Finneran declined to comment.

Finneran has recently said that if the court legalizes gay marriage, he would support a legislative attempt to amend the Constitution to limit marriage to heterosexual couples. The four Catholic bishops of Massachusetts earlier this year urged lay Catholics to lobby the Legislature to support such an amendment, which would take several years to enact and require approval from voters in a ballot referendum.