As was diaried several hours ago, Mitt Romney and leading Catholic figures in Massachusetts are pushing a 2008 amendment to
bar civil unions. There are many, including John Kerry, who supported the amendment pending in the state legislature because it only banned marriage and mandated civil unions. Clearly anti-gay forces in MA are moving beyond what they view as "marriage lite" (which it is not, but we won't go into that), and with help from some of the richest and most powerful figures in the state, are happily working to ban more and more legal rights for gay families. These attacks are not about "saving" marriage - they are about stigmatizing and demonizing gays in order to help spread homophobia, help hide the scandals of the Catholic Church and help Republicans get elected.
Some say this means the amendment currently in the legislature will fail. I don't know about that. I think that even more legislators may support it because they will feel the need to cover themselves from attacks if they oppose the 2008 amendment. Arlene Isaacson has repeatedly said that she thinks the amendment currently in the legislature will pass, and so does Mass Equality. This is going to come down to a few votes. Every last dollar, every last face-to-face meeting or phone call or letter will count.
Please go to Mass Equality and see what you can do to help. If the bigots win here, they will win everywhere.