New Gay Marriage Battle Brewing in Massachusetts

New gay marriage battle looming

By By Erik Arvidson, Sun Statehouse Bureau
Lowell Sun

BOSTON — Thomas Cedrone doesn't view himself as a bigot. Nor does he have personal animosity toward gays or lesbians who want to be married.

But on an issue as divisive as marriage rights for same-sex couples, the Westford resident said it's become more difficult to voice his own moral objections to gay marriage without being seen as narrow-minded or intolerant.

“I don't hate the people who are engaged in it. I just have to take a stand and say that it's morally incorrect, and it's against my Christian faith,” Cedrone said. “I do feel like I'm thrown into a group of extremists. My belief about gay people is, ‘It's not you, it's your actions.' ”

Cedrone added that he's become frustrated by what he sees as the proponents of gay and lesbian marriages “forcing their agenda so that my kids have to learn about it in school.”

Cedrone was one of about 170,000 people who signed a citizen petition that seeks to put a question on the 2008 ballot that, if approved, would amend the state constitution to say that only heterosexual couples may wed.

Like many other signers of the petition, Cedrone said he just wants an opportunity to vote on the question. He may get his chance.

The Legislature may consider the ballot question as early as Wednesday, when lawmakers meet in a joint session of the House and Senate to consider changes to the constitution.

Last week, a spokeswoman for Senate President Robert Travaglini, who is the presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention, said it's uncertain whether lawmakers will debate the petition on Wednesday.

Gay-rights activists in January sued Attorney General Thomas Reilly for certifying the anti-gay-marriage petition, saying the state constitution doesn't allow citizens to reverse a ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court. The state's high court heard oral arguments on the case last week, and some lawmakers said it would be premature to debate the ballot question when it could be invalidated by the court.

The question must be approved by two consecutive sessions of the Legislature before advancing to the 2008 state election ballot.

Unlike the last time lawmakers had an emotionally charged debate over marriage rights for same-sex couples, it may not be a question of if, but when, this one is approved.

Because it's a citizen-initiated petition, only 25 percent of the Legislature, or 50 lawmakers, must approve the question for it to go forward. In 2004, when lawmakers approved a legislator-driven measure banning gay marriage but legalizing civil unions, a simple majority of the 200-member Legislature was needed.

Some gay activists see it as virtually a foregone conclusion that opponents of same-sex marriage will get the 50 votes.

“As of this moment, they definitely have the votes,” said Arline Isaacson, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. “I can't tell you how many people I talk to who say, ‘We don't have to worry about this Constitutional Convention.' They're so wrong.”

Isaacson's group is strategizing over how they might amend the ballot question to make it more favorable for gay and lesbian couples, but they acknowledge doing so will be difficult.

It takes a vote of 75 percent of the Legislature to amend the ballot question. Most lawmakers agree it's difficult to get a 75 percent majority on anything related to same -- sex marriage.

Kristian Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which is driving the ballot-question campaign, said he has “a very high level of confidence” that the petition has enough votes to pass.

“We just finished collecting the greatest number of signatures ever for a ballot question in Massachusetts history,” Mineau said. “People are more electrified on this issue than on taxes.”

In February 2004, House and Senate lawmakers debated a measure — which was defeated — to ban same-sex weddings but to say that the Legislature “may” adopt civil unions in the future. That proposal failed on a 100-to-98 vote.

Of the 98 lawmakers who voted in favor of it — those who are seen as the most conservative-leaning on the issue of gay marriage — 15 have since departed, and 83 are still in the Legislature.

State Rep. Colleen Garry, D-Dracut, who opposes full marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, said she wants the Legislature to vote on the ballot question as soon as possible, but thinks it will be delayed.

“I think this is a ploy to delay a vote. The gay and lesbian groups see the writing on the wall of where the public seems to be, and they'll do anything to prevent it from happening,” Garry said.

Rep. James Eldridge, D-Acton, a gay-marriage supporter, said citizens have a right to directly petition to change the constitution, but the Legislature should have the final say on what goes on the ballot.

“It's not just about how the voters feel, but there's also the Legislature that needs to vote on the referendum. Just as I respect a voter's right to vote as they wish, I hope that same respect is given to me as a legislator,” Eldridge said.

Erik Arvidson's e-mail address is earvidson@lowellsun.com .