Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney said Sunday he would ask the state's
highest court to order an anti-same-sex marriage measure
onto the ballot if legislators fail to vote on the
matter when they reconvene in January. Romney said he
would file a legal action this week asking a justice of
the supreme judicial court to direct the secretary of state
to place the question on the ballot if lawmakers don't
vote directly on the question January 2, the final day
of the session.
Romney, an
opponent of same-sex marriage who decided not to seek
reelection as he considers running for president, made his
announcement to the cheers of hundreds of same-sex
marriage opponents at a rally on the statehouse steps
in Boston. People in favor of same-sex marriage staged
a protest across the street.
The Massachusetts
supreme judicial court ruled in November 2003 that such
marriages were legal. Since then, more than 8,000 same-sex
couples have tied the knot in the state. More than
170,000 people had signed a petition in support of the
ballot measure, which would define marriage as a union
between only a man and a woman.
Romney has
criticized lawmakers since they refused earlier this month
to take up the question during a joint session, voting
instead to recess until January 2 and all but killing
the measure. ''A decision not to vote is a decision to
usurp the Constitution, to abandon democracy and
substitute a form of what this nation's founders called
tyranny, that is, the imposition of the will of those
in power, on the people,'' Romney said earlier. ''The
issue now before us is not whether same-sex couples
should marry. The issue before us today is whether 109
legislators will follow the Constitution.''
Because the
legislature is in recess and did not adjourn, Romney has no
legal authority to call lawmakers back into session.
Supporters of same-sex marriage defended lawmakers'
procedural move.
''One of the
tenets of the Constitution is that you do not put the rights
of a minority up for a popularity contest,'' said Mark
Solomon, campaign director for Mass Equality, a
pro-same-sex marriage group. ''It is one of the very
principles this country was founded upon.''
Messages seeking
comment from legislative leaders were not immediately
returned Sunday.
The legislature
grappled with various efforts to ban same-sex marriages
even before the high court ruling in 2003. Lawmakers refused
to vote on a citizens' initiative in 2002, and two
years later voted down their own proposed amendment
that would have banned same-sex marriage and legalized
civil unions.
In the November
elections, amendments to ban same-sex marriage passed in
Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Virginia, and Wisconsin. Only Arizona defeated such an
amendment.
Vermont and
Connecticut have legalized civil unions that give same-sex
couples benefits similar to marriage. New Jersey's highest
court has ordered the legislature to allow either
marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples. (David
Weber, AP)
