Lawmakers are divided over a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives are set to consider today in Constitutional Convention, with many left undecided on the eve of the vote.
“…Only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts,” the amendment reads. “Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent.”
The second sentence of the amendment could be interpreted as banning civil unions as well as marriage. Lawmakers may revise the wording to allow for civil unions.
Senate President Robert Travaglini (D-Boston) postponed voting on the amendment in November, when it was last considered, because the Legislature was waiting for the Supreme Judicial Court to rule on whether the constitution allows gay marriage. The SJC ruled that gay couples do have a right to marry, beginning on May 17.
In order to become law, the amendment would have to pass in the current Legislature and in the next elected session. Then it would go before voters in an Election Day referendum, which could take place in 2006 at the earliest.
The marriage ban is the eighth of nine amendments being considered at the convention, and lawmakers may not even vote on it until later this week.
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