GAY WED FURY: SPEAKER FEARS "CHAOS": From the Boston Herald

With gay marriages suddenly a looming reality, House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran says lawmakers are seeking ways to delay implementation of the state's high court ruling until after the Legislature and voters have had their say.

Finneran warned of impending "chaos'' if same-sex couples start getting married in May, as the Supreme Judicial Court has ordered, only to have voters add a gay marriage ban to the state constitution at the November 2006 ballot box. "You could have a period of time . . . of complete legal chaos and confusion,'' Finneran said. "There are some thoughts being given as to what we might do and how we might prevent some of the legal chaos that would inevitably result.''

The speaker, an avowed gay marriage foe, pointed to several possible delay tactics--including asking the Supreme Judicial Court to stay its marriage decision beyond the original 180 days--until after the proposed constitutional amendment works through the process.

House lawmakers are also forging ahead with a bill that would create civil unions but ban gay marriage, citing reasons like procreation and family stability--seizing on the SJC's finding of a lack of a "rational basis'' for excluding gays from marriage. ...

The amendment seemed to be gathering support yesterday, after sponsor Rep. Philip Travis dropped wording that some lawmakers feared precluded civil unions--an option they want to preserve.

Travis claimed to already have more than the 101 votes needed to pass the amendment--saying the court's insistence this week on full gay marriage has pushed lawmakers over the edge.

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posted by Eve at 3:57 PM | link

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