Opponents: Beacon Hill ‘sold us out’

BOSTON. The crowd of gay marriage opponents in front of the State House yesterday had a look of despair as the news spread across Beacon Street that a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage had been defeated.

“The will of the people was that we voted on this. Our legislators sold us out to special interest groups,” said Lynda Pratt of Pittsfield.

More than 170,000 signatures were gathered in support of the citizens’ petition, and backers of the amendment said they were devastated Massachusetts residents were robbed of the chance to weigh in on gay marriage.

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which spearheaded the campaign against gay marriage, said the issue was not over and that the organization would regroup and consider launching another citizen petition.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to continue to promote traditional values with marriage as the major issue,” he said.

Mineau said he, too, believed legislators were listening to special interest groups and that the deep coffers of gay marriage advocates swayed the pendulum.

“The governor and house speaker have been unrelenting in fighting the natural course of advancement on the marriage amendment and the people’s right to vote,” said Mineau, in a statement released later in the day. “We will look very closely at the circumstances by which legislators switched their vote for ethics violations or improprieties.”

Mineau indicated the group will investigate rumors of patronage jobs and coercion by legislative leaders and Patrick.

“The unprecedented pressure by leaders on Beacon Hill — the rumors of patronage jobs by Governor Patrick and arm-twisting by House Speaker DiMasi — derailed the largest initiative petition drive by citizens in the commonwealth’s history, and this is a brutal loss for citizen-centered democracy,” Mineau said.