Getting a sense of what’s going on from the Globe in any timely fashion is like getting blood out of stone. Fortunately, the Herald has this bit from AP on the passage of the revised Travaglini-Lees-(Finneran?) amendment:
The swift vote, which appeared to take some lawmakers by surprise, eliminated several other amendments, one of which would have weakened the civil union provision and another which would have split the question in two, allowing voters to weigh in separately on gay marriage and civil unions. The Legislature must still take two more votes before the amendment is considered approved for the session.
Just as a reminder, this compromised amendment outlaws gay marriage and provides for civil unions - though civil unions expressly unable to get federal benefits. (See the text of the amendment, which clarifies the confusion over contradictory language by instrutcting that “Two persons of the same sex shall have the right to form a civil union if they otherwise meet the requirements set forth by law for marriage.”)
The legislators are recessing and strategizing until 1PM. Quite definitively, a majority of lawmakers have eliminated the right’s wish list - keeping civil unions off the menu - and have decided that the vote is going to be taken on this compromise amendment. Perhaps rumors of Finneran’s desertion were premature. In any case, the swiftness of the vote and the margin (118 to 81) suggest momentum for those wanting to get something - anything - on the ballot that stops gay marriage. As of right now, I have a gut feeling that this momentum will carry the day, but it’s too soon to give up hope.
CLARIFICATION: It’s not exactly true that the other amendments, such as splitting the amendment into DoMA and civil union provision, are dead on arrival. The vote was simply on the order of voting: this morning’s vote means that the Travaglini language gets voted on first - if it passes, then all other amendments are off the table and further debate and votes will be on that amendment. So it’s still clearly a set back for those wanting civil unions off the table.
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