Gay marriage amendment rejected

Lawmakers in Massachusetts have thrown out a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given US voters the right to decide whether or not gay marriage should be banned.

Massachusetts is currently the only state in the country which allows gay and lesbian couples to legally wed, and the amendment was strongly opposed by its governor Deval Patrick and its legislative leaders. The measure was voted against yesterday (Thursday) and the legislature voted 151 to 45 against it. If it had been passed, US citizens would have been allowed to decide in 2008 if same-sex marriages should be banned.

Mr Patrick was extremely pleased at the way the voting went, and he told the Associated Press: "Today's vote is not just a victory for marriage equality. It was a victory for equality itself.''

However, the move has left many people who were for the amendment very disheartened. One such group is the Massachusetts Family Institute, a conservative Christian organisation that petitioned to reverse the 2003 state court ruling which legalised gay marriage.

The institute's president, Kristian Mineau, commented: "We're very disappointed," Reuters news agency reports.