Lawsuit seeks to block Massachusetts marriage amendment

Published: 2006-01-09

BOSTON (CNS) -- In an effort to block a ballot initiative that would amend the Massachusetts Constitution to restore the traditional definition of marriage, a gay rights group filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts attorney general Jan. 3. The proposed Massachusetts Protection of Marriage Amendment would limit future marriages to the union of one man and one woman but would leave existing same-sex marriages intact. From September to November a coalition of supporters of traditional marriage, including the state's four Catholic dioceses, gathered nearly 170,000 petition signatures -- well above the 65,825 required to move the measure forward. William Galvin, Massachusetts secretary of state, certified that the proposed amendment had fulfilled the signature requirement in late December. In filing the suit, the organization Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, known as GLAD, contends Attorney General Thomas Reilly never should have approved the petition question.

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