Despite continuing efforts to be legis-weasels, the Massachusetts Legislature meeting in Constitutional convention voted to push forward a constitutional amendment that would enshrine marriage as one man and one woman. (That we have to do this still boggles my mind.)
The vote was not without drama and last-ditch efforts to undermine the will of the people and the letter of the law in the Constitution.
The amendment survived two separate roll calls, winding up with 62 of a possible 200 votes—12 more than the 50 votes needed to advance the measure. A similar result will be needed in the next legislative session—which begins tomorrow—for the measure to go on the 2008 state ballot.
Supporters of gay marriage won reconsideration of today’s first vote, but were unable to change the final outcome.
Now the same process must be repeated in the legislative session which begins immediately. We’ll see what last-ditch tricks they’ll try to pull out of their bags. I can imagine that some legislators rationalized allowing the vote by saying that there’s still another vote in order to stop it.
Meanwhile Gov.-elect Deval Patrick showed his contempt for the rule of law by encouraging legislators to be derelict in their constitutional duty and fail to vote as the Supreme Judicial Court said they must this past week. Shows what we have to look forward to over the next four years.
Technorati Tags:amendments, Constitution, homosexuality, Massachusetts, same-sex marriage
