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LifeSiteNews.com
Friday November 10, 2006
Massachusetts Legislature Refuses to Vote on Marriage Ballot Measure
Seen by many as means of bypassing democratic process
By Hilary White
BOSTON, November 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Massachusetts state legislators are putting the constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman on the back burner in a move seen by many as a means of bypassing the democratic process.
Legislators, led by Senate President Robert Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, were not asked to decide on the marriage amendment, but only whether the people of Massachusetts should have a say in a plebiscite in the 2008 election. But the legislature voted to close yesterday for its winter recess without voting on the question of putting the amendment on the ballot and will not sit again until January. By then, a vote is unlikely to be brought forward.
House Speaker DiMasi has gone on record saying that lawmakers must make sure that the issue of same-sex marriage “never, ever appears as a question on the ballot.
Republican Gov. Mitt Romney said that the vote should have been taken. "If people want same-sex marriage, then take a vote. But don't allow the constitution and rule of law not to work," he said.
A poll taken on Sunday showed even more public support for the democratic process itself than for marriage. 56% said they want marriage on a ballot initiative even while 63% of those said they would vote against the question. Constitutional amendments banning gay “marriage have so far passed in 27 of 28 states.
The 109-87 vote to recess without voting on the petition leaves family advocates in the position of trying to force a vote before the House session ends in January or the initiative will die. Under Massachusetts law, the proposed constitutional amendment must be supported by a quarter of the Legislature - or 50 members in two consecutive sessions to make it to the 2008 ballot.
At the last minute, legislators unanimously rejected a constitutional amendment that would have banned gay “marriage and rescinded the public recognition of the 8000 or so homosexual unions legalized in the state. The refusal to address the question has been seen as a panic response to the passage in Tuesday’s mid-term election of amendments to ban gay “marriage in Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute said he was disappointed that the legislators had ignored the constitutional process. "The people's right to free speech is being throttled. The people's right to vote is being throttled."
One legislator excoriated the decision saying it was an example of liberal hypocrisy. “The gracious people, the socially conscious people, the liberal people, you're the ones who always want everyone to be heard. What about these 170,000 people?" said Democratic Rep. Marie Parente.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Massachusetts Turns in Two Times the Necessary Signatures to Repeal Gay “Marriage on 2008 Ballot
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/nov/05112808.html">http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/nov/05112808.html
