Gay-marriage opponents rally across state (Massachusetts) | Boston Globe

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Gay-marriage opponents rally across state

By Jenn Abelson
and Jack Hagel, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, 1/26/2004

The battle over gay marriage spread across Massachusetts yesterday, as nearly 2,000 opponents rallied in Fall River, Worcester, and Springfield, calling for a change in the state Constitution to restrict marriage to unions between men and women.

The rallies occurred as Catholic churches across the state urged their congregations to oppose the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. The activities underscored an urgency set by the Legislature's plan to debate a proposed contitutional amendment on Feb. 11 in what some see as the last chance to undermine the ruling before it takes effect in May.

Supporters of gay marriage protested outside all three of yesterday's rallies.

Organizers estimated as many as 175 protesters stood outside the Worcester rally, and 100 protested outside the rally in Springfield. In Fall River, about 50 protesters held signs in support of gay marriage, before police asked them to move from the private property on which the rally was held.

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