Boston
Massachusetts lawmakers this week approved a state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but legalize same-sex civil unions. To become official, the ban must pass in a statewide referendum in November 2006. In the meantime, gay couples in the state will be able to marry beginning May 17, when a Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect. House Speaker Thomas Finneran said the issue had created a “social and cultural and even spiritual storm” that was dividing Massachusetts and the nation. In Congress, Republicans ran into opposition within their own party to a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
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