Massachusetts is not going to have a popular vote to deprive same-sex couples of equal rights under the law! I was first alerted to this news by qwrrty, who I gather was there. The line “The narrow 45-151 vote means Massachusetts remains the only state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry” in that article seems odd to me — yes, 45 votes is close to the 50-vote minority required for a petition-initiated constitutional amendment to be defeated in Massachusetts, but still, a 45-151 vote is not “narrow”. I guess you could say the measure was narrowly defeated, but calling it a “narrow vote” strikes me as odd.

In 25 years or so, people are going to look back on this vote with shock that almost a quarter of Massachusetts legislators thought it was a good idea to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, but from this vantage point, I am so proud that more than three quarters of my state legislators believe in equal rights for same-sex couples under the law.

I need a “proud of Massachusetts” userpic. [EDIT: Thanks to qwrrty, I have one.]