In a unanimous
decision a Massachusetts court ruled Monday that a
proposed constitutional amendment to ban future same-sex
marriages in the state can be placed on the 2008
ballot.
The state
legislature must approve the court's decision in two
upcoming sessions for the ballot to be put to voters.
Supporters of the antigay constitutional
amendment believe they have enough votes to win
the first round in the legislature.
"So now obviously
the focus is going to turn to the legislature, which
has a chance on Wednesday during the constitutional
convention to do the right thing and defeat this
amendment," Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay and
Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, told the Associated
Press.
The supreme
judicial court's ruling was in response to marriage equality
supporters who argued that state attorney general Tom Reilly
was wrong to approve a ballot measure because they
said Massachusetts's constitution bans any
citizen-initiated amendment that seeks to reverse a judicial
ruling. In 2003 a state court ruled that barring gay couples
from marrying was illegal, and it cleared the way for
same-sex marriages beginning in May of the following
year. Over 8,000 same-sex couples have been married in
Massachusetts since.
Monday's ruling
declared that the proposed amendment is not a reversal of
the earlier ruling that legalized same-sex marriage but
a proposed change to the state constitution, which can
be legally accomplished through a citizen initiative.
Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, wants same-sex marriage
gone from the state. For now, Massachusetts remains the only
state where it is legal. (The Advocate)
