Mass. you suck.

they decided to put the question on the ballot. this way a sizable minority can always take constitutional action if they feel the majority faction is being unreasonable and that the constituency feels so, too.

well, in this case the minority is supposed to be the constituents but politicians can organize the petition campaigns.

"how does one go about legislating against a gay marriage so that the courts can call the law unconstitutional?"

Um..gosh. it's a state by state decision. So..if this amendment gets any farther than the posing, rhetoric based place it is in, I guess it could be challenged in the state supreme court.

I think I get your point - it's a huge leap from legislation to practical applications of the law.
it's a civil rights issue, I suppose.

By STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP) -- Lawmakers in Massachusetts, the only state where gay marriage is legal, voted Tuesday to allow a proposed constitutional amendment to move forward that would effectively ban it.

PARSE THE SENTENCE!

Follow the verbs.

Follow the nouns.

I'm re-reading the article again, and I still get stuck on that sentence. The only reason I understood it the first time is because I live here! So the subtext was right there for me!
It's a journalistic nightmare. I have tried to take my own advice, and follow the verbs. But it still doesn't make any sense.
Congratulations to all who are not Massholes, who have valiantly struggled to make sense of this article. I applaud you.
It's a beautiful day. I'm going to go crash a lesbian wedding.