To Vote or Not To Vote

That's the question facing the Massachusetts legislature now that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that they cannot do anything to compel the Legislature to vote on the issue of putting a gay marriage amendment on the ballot.

So what will our elected officials do? According to the SJC, the Legislature has a Constitutional responsibility to give the issue an up or down vote; in November the Legislature adjourned their Constitutional Convention without taking up the issue. The Constitutional Convention is due to meet again on January 2nd, and it seems likely that they will once again choose not to vote on the issue, in spite of the admonition of the SJC.

Is that the right thing to do? We don't think so. A constitutional obligation is just that -- an obligation, and not one that should be shirked just because the issue at hand isn't comfortable. Whether you agree with a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- and we don't -- a group of people collected 170,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot. The legislature should vote on it -- and if they disagree with it, they should have the courage of their convictions to stand up and say "we think it's wrong to write hate into the Constitution. We think it's wrong to use a document meant to endow rights upon people to deny rights to people." We think our Legislators should, once and for all, make a stand. Gay marriage has been law for over a year now. No one's life, at least as far as has made the news, has been turned upside down because of it; no one's heterosexual marriage has been destroyed; the world has not come to an end.

It might also be worth noting that marriage -- heterosexual or otherwise -- is not a constitutional right guaranteed to anyone. That being the case, why would we use the Constitution to deny rights to any one group simply because we may disapprove of how they live their lives?

The members of the Legislature should have the courage to stand up and vote what they believe to be right. Anything less is a violation of their oath of office.