After vote, both sides in debate energized
The Massachusetts Legislature overwhelmingly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment yesterday to ban same-sex marriage and establish civil unions, reflecting a dramatic change of heart by dozens of moderate lawmakers and a new strategy by staunch opponents of legalized gay marriage.
The measure failed by a vote of 39 in favor to 157 against, after less than two hours of debate, ending efforts to bring the amendment to the 2006 ballot. The Legislature had voted 105 to 92 to give preliminary approval to the same amendment in March 2004, weeks before the Supreme Judicial Court's landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage took effect.
The lopsided defeat for the amendment was largely due to the fact that 55 lawmakers -- more than 25 percent of the Legislature -- who had supported the amendment last year switched and voted no yesterday. Seventeen of the Legislature's 18 freshmen lawmakers also voted against the amendment.
''I do think that a lot of people have been thinking over the last year," said Senate Republican leader Brian P. Lees, who abandoned his support of the amendment even though he was one of its cosponsors. He said he had nearly 8,000 letters and e-mails on the issue. ''I don't think it was cynical," the East Longmeadow senator said of the switch. ''It says in the constitution you have to go through two legislative sessions and things changed."
Many of the Legislature's most ardent opponents of gay marriage also abandoned the compromise measure, preferring another proposed amendment that seeks an outright ban on same-sex marriage. If backers obtain roughly 66,000 signatures in the fall, that measure will require just 50 backers in two successive sessions of the Legislature to appear on the 2008 ballot.
Yesterday's vote was a marked contrast to the emotional meetings of the Constitutional Convention in 2004 that brought thousands of chanting, placard-waving activists from both sides to the State House. By contrast, only a few hundred spectators came to the State House yesterday, most of them supporters of same-sex marriage.
Since May 2004 when Massachusetts became the first state to permit gay and lesbian couples to wed, at least 6,500 couples have been married in Massachusetts. Activists on both sides say the legalization has changed state and national politics by forcing the issue into legislative campaigns, last year's presidential campaign, and Governor Mitt Romney's potential run for the White House in 2008.
Last year, Romney backed the amendment defeated yesterday but since then has thrown his support behind the 2008 effort. Yesterday, he issued a brief statement expressing his pleasure with the outcome of the vote.
''I am pleased that the compromise amendment before the Constitutional Convention was defeated," said Romney, who spent most of the day in Washington, D.C. ''Now, we can work to put on the ballot a simpler amendment that simply defines marriage as between a man and a woman."
Supporters of same-sex marriage, who waged an intense lobbying campaign of lawmakers over the summer, say that among the 157 opponents of the amendment defeated yesterday were at least 115 and perhaps more than 120 legislators who are likely to oppose the 2008 amendment. The remainder of those who voted no were probably lawmakers who see the 2008 ballot question as a better means of eliminating gay marriage because it does not require the establishment of civil unions.
''We are so thrilled and excited and proud that a sound equal-marriage majority has soundly defeated this antigay amendment," said Marty
Critics of same-sex marriage said yesterday's vote was a necessary step to ready for their 2008 ballot effort. They said that they can now count on at least 60 legislative supporters of that ballot question, which is 10 more than needed to put it before the voters. ''This is fantastic; we're pumped," said Kristian Mineau, head of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which is spearheading the ballot initiative campaign. ''This was a flawed amendment. The citizens wanted a vote on marriage with no add-ons, and this opens the gate. There are no more barriers."
Some veteran lawmakers said yesterday that neither side should interpret what the outcome of yesterday's vote means for the new amendment effort. They said the dynamic in the Legislature is clearly too fluid to know how lawmakers will react to the amendment by May 10, 2006, when the Legislature would vote on the 2008 ballot question if supporters gather enough signatures to place it on the constitutional convention agenda. Top lawmakers set the May 10 date yesterday.
Gay-marriage advocates said they helped elect several lawmakers last fall who helped defeat the amendment yesterday. Two of the freshmen, Senator Edward M. Augustus, Democrat of Worcester, and Representative Carl M. Sciortino Jr., Democrat of Somerville, gave speeches to explain their opposition to the amendment.
''I would not be here if my own district hadn't said no to discrimination," said Sciortino, who is gay.
Said Augustus: ''It is evident that the sky has not fallen. What we saw [since same-sex marriage became legal on May 17, 2004] was how important marriage really is. We saw couples who had been together longer than some of us had been alive finally be able to receive the same benefits that other couples had always received and taken for granted."
Representative Philip Travis of Rehoboth, who is one of the Legislature's most prominent opponents of same-sex marriage, said a no vote was necessary to ensure that the 2008 effort could proceed. ''The other 49 are correct and we are wrong," Travis, a Democrat who also voted last year in favor of the amendment, said. ''We will have a pure vote on marriage as the union of one man and one woman."
In interviews, many in the crowd at the State House said they came to put a human face on the debate and to make sure that predictions of the amendment's defeat would come true.
''I took a vacation day from work today because you can't just expect things to happen," said Andrea DiMartino of South Boston, a supporter of same-sex marriage. ''They have to see us and know that we're here, that we're not going away."
After the vote, supporters of same-sex marriage packed the Nurses' Hall in the State House to cheer for the lawmakers who voted against the amendment to protect gay couples. One of those lawmakers was House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, the North End Democrat who voted against the amendment last year and again yesterday.
''You deserve to be equal, and I am with you 100 percent," DiMasi told the cheering crowd.
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, the prime sponsor of the amendment defeated yesterday and one of just two senators who backed the measure, appeared unfazed by the loss.
''For me, it's never been about winning and losing," Travaglini told reporters shortly after the roll call concluded. ''It's always been about fairness."
Raphael Lewis's email is rlewis@globe.com. 