Lawmakers adjourn with no decision on same-sex marriage question

Published: 2006-07-14

BOSTON (CNS) -- Despite a plea from the state's Catholic bishops to let the people of Massachusetts vote in 2008 on whether same-sex marriage should be allowed there, lawmakers meeting in joint session voted to adjourn July 12 before considering the issue. The proposal to amend the Massachusetts Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman could still be on the November 2008 ballot if the legislators agree to that when they resume the constitutional convention Nov. 9. Meanwhile, major court decisions were handed down July 14 on same-sex marriage in Nebraska and Tennessee. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that struck down a Nebraska constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The amendment was approved by 70 percent of the state's voters in 2000. In Tennessee the Supreme Court ruled that a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman can be put before the voters.

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