Massachusetts
court allows same-sex-marriage review on 2008 ballot

In a unanimous decision a Massachusetts court ruled Monday that a proposed constitutional amendment to ban future same-sex marriages in the state can be placed on the 2008 ballot.

The state legislature must approve the court's decision in two upcoming sessions for the ballot to be put to voters. Supporters of the antigay constitutional amendment believe they have enough votes to win the first round in the legislature.

"So now obviously the focus is going to turn to the legislature, which has a chance on Wednesday during the constitutional convention to do the right thing and defeat this amendment," Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, told the Associated Press.

The supreme judicial court's ruling was in response to marriage equality supporters who argued that state attorney general Tom Reilly was wrong to approve a ballot measure because they said Massachusetts's constitution bans any citizen-initiated amendment that seeks to reverse a judicial ruling. In 2003 a state court ruled that barring gay couples from marrying was illegal, and it cleared the way for same-sex marriages beginning in May of the following year. Over 8,000 same-sex couples have been married in Massachusetts since.

Monday's ruling declared that the proposed amendment is not a reversal of the earlier ruling that legalized same-sex marriage but a proposed change to the state constitution, which can be legally accomplished through a citizen initiative.

Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, wants same-sex marriage gone from the state. For now, Massachusetts remains the only state where it is legal. (The Advocate)