As seen on the wires:
[Massachusetts] State lawmakers voted Tuesday to advance a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union between a man and woman.[...]
Supporters of the amendment collected certified signatures from more than 120,000 people in an effort to get the question on the ballot.
The amendment needs to be approved by 50 members of the current Legislature and 50 members of the new Legislature before going to voters on the 2008 ballot. Tuesday’s vote fulfills the first part of that process.[...]
Seventeen lawmakers who voted Tuesday won’t be returning in the new legislative session, including some of the most vocal opponents of same-sex marriage. Gay marriage supporters say they will pick up a total of seven votes to block the proposed amendment in the new session, according to Solomon.
Even though I’m firmly in the camp of believing that the idea of states declaring that God cannot marry two people with similar plumbing if He so chooses is downright silly, I can’t help but wonder if political circuses such as this aren’t more detrimental than beneficial to the movement to have same-gender marriages recognized.