Governor, House Speaker and Senate President address marriage equality rally

In a clear sign of the growing momentum to defeat an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment at next month's constitutional convention (ConCon) Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Sal DiMasi came out forcefully against the amendment during unscheduled appearances at a May 17 State House rally sponsored by the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry (RCFM).

The rally was a celebration of the third anniversary of the advent of marriage equality in and to record Episcopal Bishop Gayle Harris's signing of the Religious Declaration for the Freedom to Marry. Harris became the 1000th signer of the declaration.

"Are you ready to win?" asked Patrick, who materialized in Nurse's Hall along with DiMasi and Lt. Gov Tim Murray about halfway through the event, causing the crowd of about 200 to erupt in cheers.

The governor was referring to a second and final legislative vote on whether or not the anti-gay amendment should be put on the 2008 general election ballot that is scheduled to take place on June 14. The amendment needs just 50 votes to pass but pro-equality forces have said they are within striking distance of defeating it.

"The question before the ConCon is a question of social justice, of basic fairness," said the governor, in reference to civil marriage rights for same-sex couples. It is also a question of personal privacy, he added. "[T]he system is such that we find ourselves having to put such a deeply personal question to such a wildly public process. That's democracy. If the democracy works as it should, then we will find an intersection between democracy and good conscience."

Patrick told the crowd that with the leadership of DiMasi and Murray, along with "your help and your hard work and your prayers and your faith in the justice of the question, [we will] finally give sanctuary to what is ultimately - and ought to be - a deeply personal and private matter. Let's get on with that work."

As he has in the past, DiMasi said the amendment will be defeated because of the LGBT community's work, not his. He credited the community for fighting for the rights it deserved and for showing the state that the marriages of lesbian and gay couples are "not destroying our society, it's helping our society." But he was quick to note also that he's no "Johnny Come-lately to this issue," having voted in favor of the gay civil rights bill when he first joined the legislature in 1982. "I've been fighting for you ever since and I'm not going to give up now until we win," he said.

When she stepped to the microphone, Murray, who entered the hall to loud applause as DiMasi was speaking, noted that the raucous rally had distracted her from her work. "I was wondering what all the noise was," she said. "But I'm glad to see you here and you know I'm with you.

"As you saw," she added, gesturing to Patrick, who stood off to her right, "'Together we can,' right? 'Together we can,'" she said, quoting the governor's campaign slogan. "[L]et's bring this enthusiasm to those individuals who are still struggling to get to where we need to be and let's make sure we win on June 14."

The appearance of the state's three most powerful political leaders at an event marking the third anniversary of the first legal same-sex marriages in comes on the same day The Boston Globe published a lengthy story indicating that support for the amendment, which is sponsored by the organization VoteOnMarriage.org, appears to be thinning. The story cited State House sources involved in efforts to defeat the amendment who said the headcount in support of the amendment could be as low as 52 and that DiMasi could be expected to call upon his top lieutenants to withdraw their support for the amendment if need be. It's a significant turnaround from the Jan. 2 ConCon, at which the amendment garnered a comfortable margin of victory with 62 votes - one of which was cast by 's predecessor, Robert Travaglini.

The turn of events seemed to buoy MassEquality Campaign Director Marc Solomon, whose organization hosted a citizen lobby day following the RCFM rally. Sounding a confident, yet cautious note, Solomon told the crowd, "Four weeks from today - 28 days - we're going to be back here in the State House and we're going to be putting this constitutional amendment to bed once and for all.

"But," he added, "and there's a big 'but,' the only way we're going to do it is if you and your friends and your family members take personal action today and every day from now until the fourteenth of June."