News :: GLBT
Gay advocates react to ConCon Recess by David Foucher
EDGE PublisherFriday Jul 14, 2006Only a few minutes after Senate President Robert Travaglini opened yesterday’s constitutional convention, Representative Phillip Travis, an outspoken gay marriage opponent, stood and proposed a change to the meeting’s established agenda: he insisted that issue #20 - the proposed amendment banning gay marriage in Massachusetts - be moved to the top of the session. A unanimous vote from the 200-odd Senators and Representatives at the joint session would be required to ratify the proposed change.
Travaglini barely had time to recognize the motion before dozens of those in session jumped to their feet, screaming, "Objection!"
Travaglini looked down on the floor, then to Representative Travis, and then proceeded on to agenda item #1.
Such was the course of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention on July 12th, 2006, where one amendment - a proposal for universal health care - was sent to special committee. Between that agenda item, #1 on the list, and the most closely watched legislative battle being fought in the nation, gay marriage in Massachusetts, lay 18 other proposals.
More than enough to ensure that the gay marriage amendment would likely not come to a vote.
At 5:17pm, once the tenth issue had been decided through an exhaustive roll call, Senator Dianne Wilkerson stood and made a motion to recess. The vote to recess was close - 100 in favor, 91 against.
"We have same-sex marriage in Massachusetts," stated Representative Byron Rushing, "and the sun rose another day."
The delay of four months only postponed the vote, although anti-gay proponents complain that recalling the convention two days after Election Day in Massachusetts is a prospect fraught with difficulties. For gay activists, however, the new date merely presents another deadline for lining up support for the amendment’s ultimate defeat.
"This gives us more time to reach out - to friends, to families, to others in our community - to convince people of our cause," said Matthew McTighe, Political Director of MassEquality. "And more time to ensure that when this does come to a vote, that we can defeat it. We’re going to do everything in our power to make that happen."
"We have same-sex marriage in Massachusetts," stated Representative Byron Rushing, "and the sun rose another day." MassEquality’s Campaign Director Marc Solomon, flanked by Senator Jarrett T. Barrios, Representative Michael Festa, Representative Alice K. Wolf, Representative James J. Marzillin, Jr. and Rushing, agreed with his compatriot’s assessment in public forum after the convention recessed.
"I wish I could tell you today that the fight is over, but it’s not," he said to a cheering crowd in the State House’s Great Hall. "We have four more months to work, to get legislators to help vote this amendment down. We believe that marriage is a fundamental civil right that should not be put up to a popular vote - that’s what we’re fighting for: our integrity, our dignity, our equality - and we’re going to fight every step of the way."
Should the question make it back to a vote in the ConCon on November 9th, it must win the backing of 50 of the state’s 200 elected lawmakers. If it succeeds, it must again win in the subsequent session starting in January 2007 before being added to the ballot in 2008.
"We will continue to persuade - time is on our side," Solomon promised. "What we have that our opponents do not have is real people with real stories about their lives, and their families, and their children and their brothers and sisters. We need to continue to tell those stories. We cannot let up now. We have a chance to defeat this extreme amendment - and that will take hard work."
MassEquality is reaching out to the gay community both for support in action and finances. Solomon’s team suggests that anyone interested in volunteering should connect to field staff through www.massequality.com ... and are urging supporters to contribute to the campaign with dollar amounts that are symbolic of the fight - $68 (the number of days left before the primary), $117 (the number of days left before the general election), $151 (the number of legislative votes needed to win), or multiples thereof.
"We [also] need to keep in your minds three dates," urged Rushing. "September 19th. That’s our primary. We have to work towards that date, and we have to have a big turnout. Then, November 7th. The first Tuesday of November we are all going to vote for all those senators and representatives who support marriage equality. The third date is November 9th, on which we will have a vote in the ConCon - and if we have done our work, that will be the end of this amendment."
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On the web:
MassEquality :: www.massequality.com
Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus :: http://www.mglpc.org
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