ALBANY, N.Y. (ABP) — Legislators in Massachusetts crushed an attempt to reverse that state's stance on same-sex marriage June 14, while their counterparts in New York were poised June 19 to move forward with becoming the second state to legalize gay marriage.
Meeting in a joint session, the Massachusetts Senate and House voted 151-45 against a state constitutional amendment that would re-ban gay marriage in the state. The commonwealth became the first jurisdiction in the United States to legalize gay marriage in 2004, and it remains the only one to do so.
Massachusetts' complicated system for getting a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot meant that opponents of gay marriage had to first gain hundreds of thousands of petition signatures. Then, it had to gain at least 50 votes in two consecutive sessions of the legislature to appear before voters.
In January, 62 Massachusetts lawmakers voted to forward the proposed amendment. However, the latest session reacted to strong pressure from Gov. Deval Patrick (D), an outspoken supporter of gay rights.
The move means opponents of gay marriage in the Bay State will have to wait until at least 2012 to get a proposal on the ballot that would ban the practice.
Meanwhile, in New York, members of the state Assembly's Judiciary Committee voted June 18 to advance a bill, introduced by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, that would legalize gay marriage in the Empire State. It was expected to make it by late on June 19 to the Democrat-controlled chamber's floor, where it likely has the votes to pass.
However, the bill is virtually certain to fail in the New York Senate, which is led by Republicans and whose majority leader is a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage.
A recent poll showed that New Yorkers are evenly divided on gay marriage, with 35 percent favoring it, 35 percent opposing full marriage rights for gays but supporting “civil unions” with rights identical to marriage, and 22 percent opposing any kind of civil recognition for same-sex relationships.
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