Same-Sex Marriage Ban Fails in Mass.

The Massachusetts Legislature rejected a proposed change to the state constitution Wednesday aimed at banning same-sex marriage, a striking reversal that preserved the state’s status as the only place in the nation where gay and lesbian couples can wed.

A year after Massachusetts politicians appeared destined to undo a court order that has allowed thousands of same-sex couples to marry since May 17, 2004, the Legislature voted 157 to 39 against the proposed constitutional amendment.

It was the second time the Legislature had confronted the measure. Lawmakers were required to approve it in two consecutive sessions before the proposal could move to the statewide ballot in 2006 for a final decision by voters.

The measure, which would have allowed Vermont-style civil unions, won passage by a 105-92 vote last year. But the political and social landscape has changed dramatically since then.

Gone was the intensity, the seemingly endless debate and, in some quarters, the taste for stripping away the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples.

“Gay marriage has begun, and life has not changed for the citizens of the commonwealth, with the exception of those who can now marry,” said state Sen. Brian Lees, a Republican who had been a cosponsor of the amendment. “This amendment, which was an appropriate measure or compromise a year ago, is no longer, I feel, a compromise today.”

The proposal also was opposed by critics of same-sex marriage, who want to push for a more restrictive measure.

“The union of two women and two men can never consummate a marriage. It’s physically impossible,” said state Rep. Phil Travis, a Democrat. “The other 49 states are right and we are wrong.”

Lawmakers already are preparing for a battle over another proposed amendment that would ban both gay marriage and civil unions. The earliest that initiative could end up on the ballot is 2008.

The state’s highest court ruled in November 2003 that same-sex couples had a right under the state constitution to marry. More than 6,100 gay and lesbian couples have been wed in Massachusetts, though officials have barred out-of-state couples from getting married here, citing a 1913 law that prohibits couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home states. A lawsuit challenging the legality of that law is pending.

Within a year of the first Massachusetts marriages, 11 states pushed through constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, joining six others that had done so earlier.