Mass. Governor Backs Drive to End Gay Marriage in State

Gov. Mitt Romney voiced support for a ballot initiative proposed Thursday that would end same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, the only state where such unions are legal.

“My view is that marriage should be defined as a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said, expressing a position he has advocated consistently.

The proposal to amend the state constitution, announced by the Coalition for Marriage and Family, would restrict marriage to a union between one man and one woman, and would bar Vermont-style civil unions.

Coalition President Kris Mineau said in an interview that his organization hoped to overturn a 2003 decision by the state’s highest court that permitted gays and lesbians to wed starting in May 2004.

After Romney invoked an obscure amendment from 1913, same-sex marriage licenses were restricted to Massachusetts residents. In the first year that such unions were legal, more than 6,000 gay and lesbian couples were married here.

Mineau said his organization had begun the process that could put the measure on the November 2008 ballot.

Before the proposal can reach voters, the state attorney general must approve its language.

In addition, supporters of the amendment must obtain 65,825 certified signatures. The signatures can be gathered only between Sept. 21 and Nov. 23 of this year.

Finally, one-quarter of the state’s legislators must vote to approve the amendment before it can reach voters.

After protracted debate, the Legislature approved an amendment last year that would ban same-sex marriage but permit civil unions.

To become law, that amendment must win a second vote of approval in the current legislative session. If approved by lawmakers, that amendment will go to state voters in the November 2006 election.

If that measure becomes law, Mineau said, his group’s proposed amendment will go no further.

But Mineau said that scenario was unlikely because “we have pulled our support for that amendment. We are certain the votes are not there to pass it.”

He called the amendment endorsed by the Legislature last year “flawed, ambiguous and marked for defeat.”

Romney made his remarks at a news conference at the Massachusetts statehouse.

He described the Legislature’s bill banning same-sex marriage as “muddied” because of the civil union provision. He also took the opportunity to criticize the state’s highest court, which approved same-sex marriage in a landmark 4-3 decision.

“Something so fundamental as marriage should be decided by the citizens and not by the court and a one-justice majority,” Romney said.

Today, Romney is to address 1,000 supporters at the Republican Party of Orange County’s Flag Day dinner in Irvine. The event -- Romney’s third speaking engagement in California this year -- is expected to be the governor’s largest out-of-state gathering since he began exploring a 2008 presidential run.

Romney opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions when he ran for office in Massachusetts in 2002.

He has since distanced himself from the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

Julie Teer, his press secretary, said Thursday that Romney’s comments about same-sex marriage had “absolutely nothing to do” with his national aspirations.

But Mineau said Romney’s support of his group’s more restrictive amendment was critical. “It gives us good visibility,” he said.

Marty Rouse, campaign director for MassEquality -- a statewide group supporting marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples -- charged Thursday that Romney was using the new measure opposing same-sex unions to further his presidential ambitions.

“We think Gov. Romney is burnishing his right-wing credentials, and using gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts to help him with his possible run for president,” Rouse said.

“Marriage equality in Massachusetts is accepted and supported across the state, and it is unfortunate that a few radical opponents refuse to move on.”

Thursday’s proposal to end same-sex marriage in the state was supported by Boston Archbishop Sean Patrick O’Malley and the bishops of the state’s three other Roman Catholic dioceses.

“We encourage all Catholics to exercise their civil right to participate in the signature drive for the new petition,” they said in a statement.