Bay State's Traditional Marriage Supporters Urge: 'Give Citizens Clear Choice'

by Bill Fancher
March 22, 2004

(AgapePress) - Close watchers of the constitutional drama in Massachusetts are one week away from finding out whether the Bay State legislature will be able to come up with an amendment that bans homosexual marriage.

Ray McNulty of the Coalition for Marriage says the supporters of traditional marriage will be pushing for the right to let Massachusetts citizens determine how marriage will be defined in their state. They would do that by an up-or-down vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

"The Coalition for Marriage and its partners will continue to advocate for that position," McNulty says, "and will also seek to find a way in which the so-called Travaglini-Finneran Amendment can be absolutely cut in two."

McNulty explains that some favor a division of the amendments provisions because it currently bans same-sex marriage but allows civil unions. He says a bifurcation of the amendment into two separate measures would "give voters a clear choice for traditional marriage on the one hand, and civil unions on the other."

McNulty says the option to split the current amendment is gaining supporters. "The way the very imperfect amendment now exists is that you have one amendment which would ask voters to approve traditional marriage and then, in the very next clause, civil unions," he says.

Traditional marriage supporters are pushing the split, however, in hopes of ensuring that the two issues remain distinct. McNulty says that as time passes, there is increasing support among the voters for traditional marriage, with more people favoring a ban on homosexual marriage. But at the same time, he says there are growing questions in the mind of the public as to the appropriateness of civil unions.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled last November that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Barring legislative action, the court-ordered legalization of same-sex marriage in the Bay State will go into effect May 17. However, by allowing a vote on an amendment banning homosexual marriage, the legislature will be allowing the people to make the decision.

The Massachusetts legislature returns to Beacon Hill for a third attempt at settling the same-sex marriage issue, resuming debate on March 29.