Marriage Equality in MA on Firmer Ground
A mere year ago, when campaign passions were running high and the rhetoric was white hot, those of us who support marriage equality (and know that it will ultimately prevail) were a little taken aback by the ease with which the Massachusettes legislature passed an amendment to their state constitution that would have undone the pioneering, court-directed advance that allowed gays and lesbians to marry in their state. In that vote, the amendment was favored 105 to 92.
Fortunately, the process in Massachusettes requires that any such constitutional amendment pass in two consecutive legislative sessions before it could be voted on by the general population. At the time, we expressed confidence that such an amendment could never garner enough votes to pass a second time, that the first vote was just mean-spirited, election-year posturing, and that marriage rights in the state would be safe. Publically, at least. Privately, there were nagging anxieties.
Now we can stop worrying. As the AP reports*: "…the political and social landscape had changed dramatically since then."
Election fervor has receeded and Bush's coat-tails have shortened considerably since then. There were even some state elections in which this was the defining issue, and the bad guys lost. Now we are free once again to praise the clear-headed, right-thinking people of Massachusettes for their progressive wisdom. This time the legislature defeated the proposed amendment 157 to 39, a rather more definitive majority than accepted it the first time around.
In the days ahead can we perhaps expect to see more rhetoric like this?
"Gay marriage has begun, and life has not changed for the citizens of the commonwealth, with the exception of those who can now marry," said state Sen. Brian Lees, a Republican who had been a co-sponsor of the amendment. "This amendment which was an appropriate measure or compromise a year ago, is no longer, I feel, a compromise today."*
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*Steve LeBlanc, "Mass. Lawmakers Reject Gay Marriage Ban", AP via Yahoo! News, 14 September 2005.