So far, so good

Boston Globe Editorial, February 11, 2004

The Legislature narrowly defeated two proposed constitutional amendments yesterday, courageously standing against proposals from each presiding officer that would have taken away the gay marriage rights granted in November by the Supreme Judicial Court.

Other attempts will be mounted when the constitutional convention reconvenes today at noon. Fortitude will be required to block these efforts to write discriminatory language into the state Constitution.

Yesterday, House Speaker Thomas Finneran sprang a surprise amendment that few in the chamber had seen. Fortunately, despite the support of Governor Mitt Romney, it went down by a 100-to-98 vote.

The proposal, like the original constitutional amendment by Representative Philip Travis, would have defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman. But it went on to say that the Legislature might enact laws establishing civil unions - something Finneran's opponents said they doubted would happen given the unwillingness of the House to take up domestic partnership bills. Representative Michael Festa called the Finneran proposal a "shameless illusion" that "completely circumvents the efforts of this body."

Urging a no vote, Senator Harriette Chandler rightly noted that the SJC in its historic decision was confirming the rights they already had under the state Constitution.

Later, an amendment supported by the Senate president, Robert Travaglini, that would have barred gay marriage but allowed civil unions also lost, 94-104.

The display of passion that many had anticipated at the State House certainly materialized - on the sidewalks, in the halls, and in the House chamber itself. But decorum prevailed - except, as Travaglini noted, from legislators themselves. "The gallery is so well behaved, and it is the membership that is delaying the process," Travaglini said.

But most debate was respectful and even, in a few cases, moving. The speeches of Senator Dianne Wilkerson and Representatives Lida Harkins, Marie St. Fleur, Frank Smizik, and Benjamin Swan, framing the issue as a civil rights cause, stirred the chamber. Wilkerson talked about her childhood in rural Arkansas growing up "one generation removed from slavery" and said she would never vote for an amendment that would make one group of citizens "almost equal to another."

As that history illustrates, social change is often bumpy. Integration in the South and school desegregation in Boston are but two vivid examples. We hope the polite deference shown yesterday by nearly all participants to the institutions involved, and to each other, will continue today.

'Freedom to Marry Rings' image upper right © H. Mitchell.