Rep. Barney Frank on Massachusetts' upcoming gay marriage ban fight

[Thom Little]

Rep. Barney Frank sees an "angry, divisive" fight ahead for Massachusetts if a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage reaches the 2008 state ballot.

The congressman blamed backers of the initiative petition for trying to provoke a new fight despite a lack of controversy over same-sex marriage.

"Basically, they're the disturbers of the civic peace," the Democrat said in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview Thursday. "We now have social peace in Massachusetts. They're the ones who want to stir it up ... This is a non-issue in Massachusetts."

.......

Before the amendment can be placed on the state ballot, it must be approved by at least 50 lawmakers during two separate sessions of the Legislature.

"I think by 2008, people will say, 'Do we really need to have an angry, divisive debate over a non-issue,'" Frank said. "The question for the 50 legislators is: Do they want to make this a front-page issue again, leading the TV news?"



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