Group promises aid for amendment foes

With Republicans threatening to use the issue of gay marriage against Democratic lawmakers this fall, a group of wealthy Massachusetts residents is promising to come to the aid of Democrats who are attacked for how they vote this week.

The group's leaders say they'll match Republicans "dollar for dollar" in districts where Republican candidates try to use gay marriage to oust Democrats from office. By going public with their plans on the eve of a vote in the Legislature on a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, the group's members said they hope to embolden Democrats to vote against the measure.

"There's an enormous fear out there," said Woody Kaplan, a former Back Bay real-estate developer who now works as a full-time volunteer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. "People want to vote their conscience, but is this going to be something that causes [political opponents] to come out of the woodwork?"

The group, calling itself Vote your Conscience, is already boasting $75,000 in pledges, Kaplan said. That's identical to the sum Governor Mitt Romney and other Republican leaders are planning to disburse to GOP candidates for the Legislature this year.

Beyond the cash from Republican power-brokers, those who support the amendment could find other ready sources of money. Ronald A. Crews, spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage, said numerous people have contacted his office to inquire about supporting candidates who support the notion that marriage should be defined as only the union of one man and one woman.

"I do know of individuals who are willing to step forward to provide campaign funds for either those who support us and receive political heat for that or for those who should be with us because the people of their districts say they want this vote," Crews said.

Dominick Ianno, executive director of the state Republican Party, said it wasn't surprising that well-heeled Democrats would come together to support Democratic candidates. He reiterated his stance that the gay marriage issue is nonpartisan, because many Democrats and Republicans disagree with their party's platform. Ianno said Republican candidates are likely to use the issue to argue that the Democrat-controlled Legislature long ignored its responsibility to vote on gay marriage proposals. The Legislature's inaction left the issue to the Supreme Judicial Court to sort out, Ianno said.

In 2002, Democratic legislative leaders scuttled an effort to put a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman on a statewide ballot. If that had gone forward, the state constitution could have been amended as soon as this year, rather than 2006. But a Republican attempt to use this issue against Democrats is complicated by a potentially awkward fact: Romney opposed that amendment as a gubernatorial candidate in 2002. At the time, Romney said he felt the amendment went too far because it would have outlawed domestic-partner benefits for gay couples, as well as gay marriage, and said he would vote against it.

Romney aides say the governor has been consistent in his belief that the people have a right to vote on the issue. Top Democrats, however, accuse the governor of flip-flopping.

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.