Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Mr. Rogers Backhandedly For SSM

No, not that Mr. Rogers. He's dead.

The Massachusetts House Majority Leader John Rogers has jumped the fence on the anti-same-sex-marriage amendment. Bay Windows announced this afternoon that he told them in an interview that he could no longer support this effort to stop SSM here.

The bad news for the Dark Side keeps piling one. Consider:
  • The Supreme Judicial Court has heard the GLAD suit that the amendment petition and drive were unconstitutional.
  • Senate President Don't-Call-Me-Bobby Travaglini has postponed this week's scheduled hearing at a Constitutional Convention on the amendment for two months.
  • Two other anti-SSM leaders, Phil Travis and Emil Goguen, of the legislature are retiring.
  • Several other anti-SSM legislators lost their last re-election drives.
  • Massachusetts voters have seen that SSM works and hurts no one, so that the polls favor SSM more strongly all the time.
Rogers has never been shy about his one-man/one-woman feelings. He has joined in various anti-gay and anti-SSM speeches or legislation. However, he told BW that the current amendment has no safeguards or options for same-sex couples. So, he can't support it.

The people driving this amendment have been seeing legislative support plunge, gradually but steadily. Politicians may claim integrity, but they sure hate to be on the wrong side of voters' opinions.

The extra joke is that Travaglini is doing a wait-for-the-SJC ploy again. That's too funny. That's how we go to SSM here anyway. The Senate has ample warning that if the General Court didn't align our marriage laws with our anti-discrimination ones, the SJC would make it so.

Travaglini did the passive-aggressive thing to avoid having this be a legislative decision. He waited and sure enough, the SJC declared for SSM and ordered the General Court to make it so.

Now again, he's ordered his fellows to wait for the court.

Meanwhile, Rogers' pragmatism will surely be a cause for reflection in both houses.

Personal Note: I've been in geeky sessions for four days, all day. I returned to my hotel room to find Bay Windows' revelation. This calls for a drink.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It doesn't hurt that he has a serious primary challenger who's staunchly pro-marriage, either.