Let's just hope we don't lose MA

Unfortunately, the hateful bigots living in the Bay State won one yesterday, when lawmakers voted in favor of sending a ballot initiative to the voters in 2008 regarding the legality of same-sex marriage:

Lawmakers in Massachusetts, the only state where gay marriage is legal, on Tuesday advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, a critical step toward putting the measure on the 2008 ballot.
[...]
The proposed amendment, which would define marriage as between one man and one woman but ban future gay marriages, still needs approval of the next legislative session before it can go onto the ballot.

Now, a second vote in favor will have to take place in the next legislature in order for the voters to be able to vote on it, otherwise it will be scuttled and the whole process will start over.

Apparently the majority of voters in Massachusetts are in favor of keeping the status quo, but two years are a long time and many things can change. I can only imagine the enormous amount of resources that the right wingers will pour into that state from across the country to influence the outcome.

That is, after all, the only state in the nation where gay marriage is legal at the moment, so their main goal is certainly to turn the clock back and make it illegal there as well.

Now, we can only wait and see, hoping the next legislature votes not to put the initiative on the ballot or doesn't vote at all. 17 representatives won't be back, including some of the most vocal opponents of gay marriage, which is good, but, like I said, many things can change in two years.

Thankfully, the new Governor, Deval Patrick, is on our side and will push to quash the proposed amendment before it comes up to a vote in the next legislative session:

DiMasi said the amendment discriminates against gay citizens and vowed to work with Gov.-elect Deval Patrick to defeat the question before it reaches voters.

"Today a minority of legislators voted to advance a proposal that takes away the civil rights those couples are guaranteed to under our constitution," DiMasi said in a statement. "This initiative petition is offensive and deplorable."

More from another gay marriage supporter:

"This is not just another question for popular decision. This is a question, under the equal protection clause, about what freedoms the minority is entitled to," Patrick told reporters after meeting with DiMasi. "This is the first time that the petition process has ever been used to consider reinserting discrimination into the constitution."

After the vote, Patrick issued a written statement saying he was disappointed.

"We have never used the initiative petition to limit individual freedoms and personal privacy, but today's vote was a regrettable step in that direction," he said.

Let's keep our fingers crossed, because the civil rights of the minority should not be decided by a popular vote