Wedding toast poses question for Travaglini
Those who attended the weekend wedding of state Senator Jarrett T. Barrios and political consultant Doug Hattaway said that Senate President Robert E. Travaglini gave a beautiful and moving toast at the couple's reception. The Senate president described the gay couple and their two adopted sons as a true family, in a speech that state Representative Michael E. Festa, also a wedding guest, called "an extraordinary statement of support."
But eight months ago Travaglini was working hard to win passage of a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, allowing civil unions instead.
His heartfelt toast has advocates on both sides wondering whether the Senate president has changed his mind on the issue of same-sex marriage. The question is crucial to the future of the amendment: Travaglini will lead a second constitutional convention next year to decide whether the measure should go before voters on the 2006 ballot. If Travaglini no longer supports the amendment, which was the result of a delicately constructed compromise, it is less likely to prevail at the special combined legislative session.
In a brief interview with the Globe yesterday, Travaglini refused to say whether his toast reflected a shift in his position.
"It shows respect for a friend who invited me to attend a celebration," Travaglini said, heading into a State House elevator. He batted away further questions.
"It doesn't mean anything more than I just told you," he said.
Other state senators who voted for the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage also celebrated Saturday with the couple: Ways and Means chairwoman Therese Murray, of Plymouth; Stephen A. Baddour of Methuen; Joan M. Menard of Fall River; and Frederick E. Berry of Peabody. None returned calls yesterday.
Barrios declined yesterday to discuss details of his wedding, saying he considered the event private.
"I was delighted by the company that joined me for the private ceremony," he said. "And I think it would be disrespectful to all those who attended to treat the event as if it was a media circus."
Saturday's was not the first same-sex wedding ceremony Travaglini has attended. Shortly after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in May, he was a guest at the wedding of Mitchell Adams and Kevin Smith, former senior staff members in the administration of Governor William F. Weld, a Republican.
Festa, a Melrose Democrat who supports same-sex marriage, said Travaglini's toast was very moving.
"It was very thoughtful, and I think everyone who heard it, and it was a big crowd, you could hear a pin drop," he said. "It was one of the most poignant toasts I have ever seen at a wedding. He spoke of the importance of family, and he recognized that Jarrett and Doug's family is also a beautiful thing. And I thought it was great."
It would not be fair to read anything into the speech, Festa said. "But I will say, without any equivocation, that it was an extraordinary statement of support. This is a guy who was really reaching out and saying that he really cares about the family that's being constituted in this marriage."
There was a strong political element to Saturday's proceedings. An excerpt from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling recognizing same-sex marriage rights was reprinted in the program. During the ceremony, Festa gave a speech on the significance of the day.
"When we leave this church, there are forces of anger, ignorance, and hate that seek to tear asunder the bonds of this marriage," he said. "And all over this country, for many years to come, the battle will rage. But . . . the inexorable march toward full equality cannot be stopped."
Ronald A. Crews -- the former president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, who pushed hard for the ban on same-sex marriage -- said he felt uncomfortable that senators had attended the wedding, especially Travaglini, who will have more influence than any other lawmaker over the fate of the constitutional amendment.
"Clearly we have different definitions of what the word family means," Crews said of the Senate president. "I was always concerned about how solidly he was behind the amendment, and I don't know. It is still my hope he will allow the amendment to go forward. What did [he] mean by voting to preserve marriage in the ConCon earlier this year, and to make those kinds of statements? It appears to be a discrepancy."
