For Reilly, victory may be incomplete

As the state's top lawyer, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly won a big case yesterday: The Supreme Judicial Court agreed with his argument that a 1913 state law prevents out-of-state gay couples from getting married in Massachusetts.

As a gubernatorial candidate, though, Reilly may not have fared as well.

Yesterday's decision represents another chapter in his complicated relationship with the gay community and its supporters, a relationship that is coloring this year's race for governor. Supporters say he has upheld the law admirably without regard to politics, but critics say that he has been no friend to the gay community and that yesterday's decision underscores the friction.

''Yet again, Reilly plays the enabler for gay people being denied rights," said Arline Isaacson, cochairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, who has been extremely critical of Reilly. Isaacson argues that Reilly's record on same-sex marriage has deprived him of a significant power base of money and activists who would otherwise be in his camp.

Conversely, the decision is a clear political victory for Governor Mitt Romney, a possible presidential candidate in 2008, because he can use it to prove to Republican primary voters that he is working hard to limit the spread of same-sex marriage

But for Reilly, the decision serves as a reminder of the path that he has charted on gay marriage. Over the past several years, Reilly has managed to take action and public positions that both heartened and angered same-sex marriage supporters. He initially opposed gay marriage and the SJC decision making it legal. Then he rejected Romney's request to seek a court delay in the implementation of the decision. He signed off on a 2008 ballot question to halt gay marriage, but he became a gay marriage supporter after saying he had been moved by the same-sex weddings since gay marriage became legal in May 2004.

Still, it's not as though Reilly has been the preferred 2006 candidate for the most left-leaning members of the Democratic Party, who are more inclined to back Deval L. Patrick, a former civil rights enforcer and corporate executive who believes in gay marriage. In fact, Reilly's position could help him win votes from more conservative Democrats.

One Reilly adviser said the attorney general has made decisions based on the law, not on what might help him politically with gay-rights activists.

''Legally he's done his job, and the politics are what they are," said the adviser, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the campaign and thus spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked yesterday whether his role in the SJC's decision would play any role in the gubernatorial race, Reilly said that people in Massachusetts would not be affected by the ruling.

''I don't believe that at all," he said, responding to a reporter's question on whether the ruling would have an impact in the campaign. ''This doesn't even apply to Massachusetts."

Patrick sought to make it an issue, however, releasing a statement linking Reilly to Romney and chiding them both for ''bad leadership." In an interview, Patrick said all prosecutors have discretion about what laws to enforce, and he said Reilly made a purely political judgment to enforce the 1913 statute.

''These are two different campaigns," Patrick said. ''One is about a guy who is trying to figure out what the populace wants and turn into that, and another is about a guy who is saying, 'This is who I am and this is what I'll offer.' "

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, the Republican candidate for governor, opposes gay marriage but favors civil unions. Independent Christy Mihos supports gay marriage.

As for Romney, who has been working overtime to court conservative voters around the country, he basked yesterday in what he called ''an important victory for those who want to preserve traditional marriage."

''It is important that other states have the right to make their own determination of marriage and not follow the wrong course that our Supreme Judicial Court put us on," he said.

Charles A. Radin of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.