Rights groups battle question on gay nuptials

Gay and lesbian advocates are hoping that a video and house parties will boost their campaign to block a referendum that would outlaw gay marriage in Massachusetts.

An 11-minute video arguing for the preservation of gay marriage is scheduled to be unveiled today and tomorrow at house parties across the state, said Marc Solomon , campaign director for Mass Equality, a gay rights advocacy group.

"Advocates for gay rights are getting their family and friends together to watch the video and go out and support us," Solomon said.

The target of the campaign: the state's 200 legislators, and in particular, the 63 legislators who in January voted to put gay marriage on a statewide ballot in November 2008.

If the number of legislators who support the referendum can be whittled down to fewer than 50 in a final legislative hurdle, there will be no vote.

The state constitution requires the support of at least one-quarter of the Legislature, 50 lawmakers, to put the question on the ballot.

"This weekend is all about getting folks to contact . . . their legislators in support of gay marriage," Solomon said.

Those who believe marriage should be legally restricted to a man and a woman have demonstrated broad support for their position. The Massachusetts Family Institute, for example, collected 120,000 signatures in support of the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Lisa Barstow , spokeswoman for VoteOnMarriage.org, which backs the amendment, said, "The people want to vote on this issue. This is not an issue that is going to go away. People have a right to vote and they want to exercise that right."

Another supporter of the amendment, Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, told the AP that a referendum would be "an exercise in democracy."

The singular message of the video is that minority rights are jeopardized when put to popular vote.

The video, produced for about $50,000, relies primarily on interviews with legislators in Wisconsin.

Voters in Wisconsin -- a state with a liberal reputation to rival that of Massachusetts -- last year overwhelmingly approved a ban on gay marriage and civil unions, 59 percent to 41 percent.

"It's a crapshoot when you take it to a vote," state Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin says on the video . "Do you really want mob rule deciding who's going to be discriminated against and who's not going to be discriminated against?"

The video is peppered with rhetorical questions.

"What would have happened if there was a referendum on whether the Irish should be able to vote in the 19th century?" asked one Wisconsin man.