May 1, 2002 – The Constitutional Convention convenes to consider the initiative petition amendment (H 4840) to the Constitution relative to the “protection of marriage”. RESULT: Recessed until 6/19/02.
June 19, 2002 – The Constitutional Convention reconvenes to consider the amendment (H 4840) that would ban same-sex marriage. RESULT: Recessed until 7/17/02.
July 17, 2002 – The Constitutional Convention reconvenes to consider the anti-gay marriage amendment. Senate President Birmingham adjourns the convention. RESULT: The amendment is effectively killed.
May 14, 2003 – The Constitutional Conventions meets to discuss a new proposed amendment (H 3190) that would ban gay marriages and marriage-like benefits for same-sex couples. RESULT: Recessed until 11/12/03.
November 12, 2003 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to take up the anti-gay marriage amendment (H 3190). RESULT: Recessed until 2/11/04.
February 11, 2004 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to take up the anti-gay marriage amendment (H 3190). After much heated debate, the concon recesses until the next day.
February 12, 2004 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to take up the anti-gay marriage amendment. Hundreds of people fill the State House as the second day of the Constitutional Convention heats up. Lawmakers on both sides debate and maneuver. The night ends with pro-gay marriage legislatures conducting a filibuster until midnight. RESULT: Recessed until 3/11/04.
March 11, 2004 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes. The legislature votes three times on a gay marriage ban that would also establish civil unions. Maneuvers by both opponents and supporters of gay marriage leave it unclear whether the constitutional amendment would ever get to the voters. RESULT: Recessed until 3/29/04.
March 29, 2004 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes and votes in favor of the “compromises amendment” that would ban gay marriage and establish civil unions. RESULT: The amendment passes and moves to the second round with a vote of 105-92.
May 11, 2005 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to debate the anti-gay amendment. RESULT: Recessed until 8/24/05.
August 24, 2005 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to debate the anti-gay amendment. RESULT: Recessed until 9/14/05.
September 14, 2005 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to debate the anti-gay amendment. Pro-gay marriage forces have enough votes to kill the amendment. Anti-gay marriage groups drop support for the amendment in favor of a new amendment that does not include civil unions. Both sides urge legislators to vote against the amendment. RESULT: The amendment is defeated with a vote of 157-39.
May 10, 2006 – The Constitutional Conventions meets to take up a new amendment to ban gay marriage. This new amendment does not include civil unions and, because it is an initiative petition, needs only 25% of the legislature’s support to pass. RESULT: Recessed until 7/12/06.
July 12, 2006 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to debate the anti-gay marriage amendment. Marriage equality advocates do not have enough votes to win. RESULT: Recessed until two days after the general election, 11/9/06.
November 9, 2006 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to debate the anti-gay marriage amendment. Marriage equality advocates still do not have the votes to win. In a procedural maneuver designed to kill the amendment, the legislature votes to recess until the last day of the session. RESULT: Recessed until 1/2/07. MassEquality declares victory.
January 2, 2007 – The Constitutional Conventions reconvenes to take up the anti-gay amendment. After a lawsuit filed by anti-gay marriage advocates, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said that state lawmakers have a constitutional duty to vote on a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage. The amendment only needs 50 votes to pass. RESULT: The amendment passes and moves to the second round with a vote of 62-134.
May 9, 2007 – The Constitutional Conventions takes up the anti-gay marriage amendment in the second round. RESULT: Recessed until 6/14/07.
Many in the LGBT community, including me, are sick and tired of going to Constitutional Conventions. They can be incredibly draining. I can think of a million things that I would rather do than go to the State House and fight for my rights…again.
However, we can’t give up, or even slow down now. We are so close to winning. State House sources say that we are just three or four votes away from winning. We need to be there on Thursday, even if there is not actually going to be a vote. We need to be there to show the legislature that we are not giving up our rights.
We have survived sixteen Constitutional Conventions. We can make it through the seventeenth one as well. See you there!
Is there anywhere that it will be televised? Podcast?
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p> Are we tracking the # of Legislators that change their vote? Either for or against? Any way to judge if our efforts have made a difference?
Had a tool right on their front page that you could click on and go to the map they had that showed who was voting how, and how to get in touch with them. For some unknown reason, the link has been taken down…
http://housetv.hou.s…
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All sessions of the House (and ConCons) are broadcast here and on local cable television. Unfortunately, I don’t know which cable station off the top of my head.
I believe they stopped airing the sessions on TV and you can now only watch it over the internet. But in January the bandwidth was being used by so many during the Con Con that people were lucky if they could get a 30 second live clip.
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I’ve heard that the bandwidth has been increased however so that all the people watching online should be able to view it. We’ll see how that goes…
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I wish I could still watch it on TV.
And also probably not the worst place to ask who else is going on Thursday. After all, there will be a lot of downtime most likely…Anyone want to write a little “BMG” on their signs or a sticker so we can find each other?
If you haven’t been to one of the ConCons, now would be a great time to start. The scene outside the Statehouse is always charged and very lively. The weather is supposed to be good (although the forecasts this week haven’t been too reliable), so bring your sunscreen. When you stand on the steps of the Statehouse, looking across the Common, you really get a sense of being part of a much larger history. And what happens Thursday will be historic-hopefully the end of the attempt to roll back the civil rights of gay and lesbian couples and the beginning of secure, full legal equality.
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Massachusetts is the first state in this country to legalize same-sex marriage, but we have a long history of firsts. So as you gaze across the Common, the first public park in America, and ride to the Statehouse on the T, the first subway system in America (perhaps past the first public library, the first public school, or the first university), you can be part of another Massachusetts first.
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We’ll need people at the Statehouse all day. If you can’t be there all day, come when you can. Come before work: there’s a rally and march to the Statehouse from St. Paul’s Cathedral at 7:30 am, sponsored by the RCFM. Have lunch at the Statehouse-take your lunch hour and be part of history. Bring yourself and bring your friends. Legislators need to see how many people don’t want to turn back the clock on civil rights.
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I’ll be there-I certainly hope to see a lot of BMG folks and their friends, too.
As a candidate for the U.S. Senate and a supporter of marriage equality, I shall be at St. Paul’s at 7:30 a.m. and participate in the rally and the march.
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Ed O’Reilly
Democratic Candidate for the U.S. Senate from, and for, Massachusetts
This made my “Blog of the Week” on LeftAhead!
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It was an extremely interesting, thought-provoking blog. And, in the end, I feel the exact same way: this is a long, drawn-out process and I’m sick of it too. Yet, I’ll be there on Thursday, fighting for my rights yet again.
I agree – though it does not affect me personally, it could open a flood gate of voting on the rights of other groups….like mine, the disabled. And to those that say – never happen, they didn’t GIVE us most of our rights until 1990.
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I hope my colleagues in the disability community – HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION.
There are many good lessons to be learned from this Con Con, I pray I will not be in the middle of the next one. There should not have ever been this one.
You stand up for us, next we stand up for you. The bottom line in this is that rights should never be voted away.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
From townonline.com – Vallee to vote against amendment
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