Mass. governor wants direct appeal to courts
Romney seeks to halt same-sex marriage ruling
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(CNN) -- Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Thursday he'll ask lawmakers to let him bypass the state attorney general and ask the state supreme court to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
"I would like the right to be able to represent the people and my own office before the courts of Massachusetts on an important matter such as the one that we're referring to today," Romney told reporters in Boston.
The state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November that banning same-sex couples from marrying was discriminatory under the state's constitution. In response, the state Legislature passed a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to heterosexual couples -- but the measure won't go before voters for ratification until November 2006.
Romney, a Republican, asked Attorney General Thomas Reilly last month to request a stay of the court's ruling, which is set to take effect on May 17. But Reilly, a Democrat who argued the state's same-sex marriage case, said the governor's request contained no new legal basis for an appeal.
"I feel very deeply that the people's voice should be heard -- that a matter such as the definition of marriage is fundamental in our society, and that the citizens should have a right to be heard," Romney said.
But a lawyer for Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders -- the group that represented plaintiffs in the Massachusetts case -- called Romney's move "a last-ditch and hopeless effort."
"In refusing to go to court for a stay, the attorney general acknowledged reality: The case is over," GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto said in a written statement.
Under Massachusetts law, the attorney general represents state government in the courts. Romney said his advisers determined that the Legislature must act in order for his office to go to court on its own.
Romney warned that allowing same-sex marriages before the statewide vote would create "a good deal of confusion" for couples, state officials and other states that would have to decide whether to recognize the unions. But he said the state is taking "the necessary steps" to comply with the order should he fail to obtain a stay.
