AP :
Lawmakers in Massachusetts, the only state where gay marriage is legal, voted Tuesday to allow a proposed constitutional amendment to move forward that would effectively ban it.
The amendment’s backers had collected 170,000 signatures to get a question on the 2008 ballot asking voters to declare marriage to be between a man and a woman, but they still needed the approval of two consecutive legislatures.
Gov.-elect Deval Patrick had urged lawmakers not to vote on it Tuesday, which would have effectively killed it.