Debating gay marriage: legislators will continue to mirror the rest of the country as they grapple with this difficult issue.

• Author: Goodman, Christi

Late in November, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected without comment a challenge to the Massachusetts ruling that legalized same sex marriage. At least 3,000 same sex couples have legally wed in Massachusetts since May 2004.

State legislatures are struggling with this issue. During the last session, many legislators introduced legislation to define marriage, restrict recognition of marriages performed in other jurisdictions, or prohibit civil unions and domestic partnerships. Others introduced legislation to permit same sex couples to marry, establish domestic partnerships and civil unions, and to recognize same sex marriages performed legally in other jurisdictions.

In what is widely perceived as a backlash to the situation in Massachusetts, voters approved constitutional amendments in 13 states last fall, bringing to 17 the number of states with constitutional provisions defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, or explicitly allowing the legislature to do so. Legislators in at least 16 states introduced bills calling for a constitutional amendment. In seven of those, the legislatures passed the amendments and the voters approved them. In six other states, citizens took matters into their own hands, putting citizen initiatives on the ballot, where voters overwhelmingly approved them.

Constitutional amendments are still pending in several states, including Massachusetts, where procedure requires an...