While surfing...

While surfing the net trying to find a few articles on the hanging of Saddam, I came accross this article. Thought it was an interesting read.

Mass. lawmakers vote to allow proposed amendment banning gay marriage to proceed
The Associated Press Published: January 2, 2007

BOSTON: In a suspense-filled final day of the legislative session, Massachusetts lawmakers kept alive a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday that would put a stop to gay marriage in the only state that allows same-sex couples to wed.
The vote came after weeks of mounting legal and political pressure on legislators from both sides in the debate.
With a combination of parliamentary maneuvering, flip-flopping and brinksmanship, lawmakers gave the first round of approval necessary for the amendment to appear on the ballot in 2008. The measure still needs the endorsement of the next legislative session.
If the amendment makes it onto the ballot and residents approve it, it will leave Massachusetts' 8,000 existing gay marriages intact but ban any new ones.
"This is democracy in action. It's not a vengeance campaign. It's not a hate campaign. It's just an opportunity for the people to vote," said Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a conservative group that opposes gay marriage.
If lawmakers had failed to act on the amendment Tuesday, the measure would have died, and opponents of gay marriage who collected 170,000 signatures to try to put the issue on the ballot would have had to start over again.
The pressure on lawmakers came from all sides: Gay rights activists and Democratic Gov.-elect Deval Patrick called on the Legislature to let the measure die without a vote. Gay rights opponents — and Massachusetts' highest court — demanded an up-or-down vote.
The state Supreme Judicial Court — the same court that ruled in 2003 that gays have a constitutional right to marry — declared last week that lawmakers had shirked their constitutional duties by refusing to vote on an amendment submitted by the people. But the justices acknowledged they had no authority to force action.
To advance to the next round, the amendment needed the approval of only 50 of the 200 members of the Legislature. On Tuesday, 61 lawmakers voted in favor, while 132 were opposed.
A few hours later, the lawmakers agreed to reconsider. But then they largely affirmed the original result, with 62 voting in favor of the amendment.
Earlier in the day, the governor-elect, who supports gay marriage, met with the leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature to argue against a vote, calling it a "question of conscience."
Patrick charged that the amendment process was being used to "consider reinserting discrimination into the constitution."
"This is not just another question for popular decision. This is a question, under the equal protection clause, about what freedoms the minority is entitled to," Patrick said.
Patrick takes the oath of office Thursday. His predecessor, Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican who is considering a run for president, opposes gay marriage.
In November, seven states approved gay-marriage bans, joining 20 that had done so in previous elections.
Other states are moving in the opposite direction: New Jersey's gay couples gained new rights last week when the state legalized same-sex civil unions there. Vermont and Connecticut also allow civil unions.
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Associated Press writer Glen Johnson contributed to this report.

I wonder what changed their minds? ...