Head planted in sand: SJC may have ruled gay mariage bans unconstitutional, but what's going to happen in the legislature?

But the issue may find a hostile audience in the Massachusetts Legislature, which has been considering a constitutional amendment that would legally define a marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The state's powerful Speaker of the House, Tom Finneran of Boston, has endorsed this proposal.

And Republican Gov. Mitt Romney criticizing the ruling, saying: "Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. I will support an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution that makes that expressly clear. Of course, we must provide basic civil rights and appropriate benefits to nontraditional couples, but marriage is a special institution that should be reserved for a man and a woman."

I smell a civil union compromise ahead, disappointingly. Romney and Mass. Republicans could be bold and allow gay marriage whole-hog, but they'll continue to try to protect a long past vision of marriage. While I commend the court's ruling (particularly it's decison to force the legislature to actually legislate and risk political capital), I don't think we'll see anything more progressive than what already exists in Vermont.