Gay marriage in Mass. features best, worst of government

BOSTON -- Witnesses to Massachusetts' marathon gay marriage debate have heard the anger of a black senator who grew up in the segregated South. They have heard the fear of a gay lawmaker who felt helpless to protect his sick child. And they have heard the pain of a House member whose vote against gay marriage tore his family apart.

"Sometimes you have to do what you believe, regardless of the consequences," said Democratic Rep. David Flynn, a grandfather who said he become estranged from a family member because of his vote.

Several legislators have had to pause because of tears. The Bible has been quoted liberally -- but so have the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan.

It's been a long, strange trip for the Massachusetts Legislature, with 28 hours of emotional debate over three days in the past two months on a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

Back in session

Lawmakers resume the constitutional convention today and are expected to decide whether to give final approval to an amendment on the table that would ban gay marriage but allow gay couples to enter into civil unions. If it is approved, the legislature would have to adopt an identical measure in the 2005-2006 session, then put it before voters on the November 2006 ballot.

The debate so far -- coming on the heels of a court ruling that is set to legalize same-sex marriages in Massachusetts beginning in mid-May -- has seen Byzantine political maneuvering alongside moments of levity.

Sen. Robert Havern joked that those who are uncomfortable with gay sex should endorse gay marriage, because everyone knows, "After marriage, there is no sex."

The Bible has been cited both as evidence of the sanctity of heterosexual marriage and as an illustration that its verses might not, in every respect, be the best model for marriage laws.

"Solomon had 700 wives," Democratic Rep. Daniel Bosley noted on the floor. "I am not suggesting anyone try that."

To date, according to transcripts, 76 lawmakers have given a total of 100 speeches on gay marriage over the course of a debate that has at times seemed like a clip from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," with intensely personal stories about love, marriage, family, equality, heritage, race and religion.

Less than equal

"I know the pain of being less than equal and I cannot and will not impose that status on anyone else," said Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, a black woman who was raised in the South. "I could not in good conscience ever vote to send anyone to that place from which my family fled."

Openly gay Sen. Jarrett Barrios was brought to tears when he told of a frantic telephone call to a hospital after his adopted 7-year-old son fell ill with a high fever. The nurse was reluctant to talk to him, he said, because the hospital's records listed only Barrios' partner as a parent.

"He could die on my watch while I was fighting with a nurse over whether I was his parent or not," the Democrat said.

And the Bible is not the only reference material making an appearance. Democratic Rep. Jay Kaufman read the verses of Bob Dylan's "The Times They are A-Changin"' into the record.

Democratic Sen. Brian A. Joyce appeared to attempt a filibuster on the first day of the debate by reading articles from The Boston Globe, while another group of lawmakers walked out of the chamber to protest the tempo of the proceedings.

Taken in total, however, political observers have given the proceedings high marks, despite the convoluted approval process, which has seen the lawmakers vote on amendments, further amendments and to send those further amendments to what's known in legislative parlance as a "third reading."

"Both opponents of gay marriage and the advocates have displayed some of their finest moments," said Paul Watanabe, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts' Boston campus.

"It's clearly touched them personally and they've expressed it. It's been agonizing for many and that's been clear," he said. "It shows to some extent that this is an issue unlike any other that has appealed to people on a deep level."