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5:00 p.m. | 3:15 p.m. | 2:25 p.m. | 1:15 p.m.

THURSDAY 5:00 p.m.
Chaos reigns

Arline Isaacson, the cochair of the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Political Caucus, says, "So much is going on, so many amendments are flying around. … People are changing their minds every hour."

Around 5 p.m. the convention recessed, apparently because there's been a total breakdown in the process and none of the legislative leaders can predict what would happen if a vote were taken. And that would violate one of the two cardinal rules of politics: never ask a question you don't know the answer to and never call for a vote unless you know the count.

Nevertheless, Isaacson is convinced that Senate President Robert Travaglini and others do not want to end the process -- or believe they can't end the process -- without passing some kind of an amendment. Shapiro notes that there's been "constant rewriting of new amendments in order to find the one that will get the votes."

Meanwhile, the debate has been very personal. When state representative Shaun Kelly, a Republican from Dalton, called for a motion to adjourn the convention earlier in the day, Shapiro recalls, he specifically mentioned openly lesbian legislator Liz Malia, who has been with her partner for years. How can you do this to one of your own colleagues, Kelly asked the chamber, according to Shapiro.

"People are very upset," Isaacson says. "It's a shameful day and they're going to have to own up to that."

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THURSDAY 3:15 p.m.
Byron Rushing to black ministers: "shame on you"

State Representative Byron Rushing of Boston drew an analogy of the civil marriage battle to the civil rights movment. He noted that in 1790 the first federal census was taken and that Massachsuetts was the only one of the 13 states not to report having any slaves. "We had no slaves in 1790 because we had a different constitution here," Rushing said. The United States Constitution "did not guarantee liberty but the Massachusetts constitution did."

Rushing noted that a short time after the state constitution was adopted, a female slave from Stockbridge went to court to have herself freed under the Declaration of Liberty. The case went to the SJC where it was determined only one justice would rule on the case. That justice determined that she should be freed under the Declaration of Liberty in the state constitution.

Rushing, who attended the Episcopal convention last summer as a delegate in support of the ordination of Gene Robinson as bishop, reiterated that the question of civil marriage rights for same-sex couples is "a civil rights issue" and that there's a serious difference between religious marriage and civil marriage. For instance, you don't go to your church for the benefits of marriage, you go to your government. As for the African-American ministers who have recently come out against the rights of gay people to marry, Rushing said, "They are telling us that black people, once they've gotten their civil rights don't have to share." He added: "Shame on you."

Rushing also addressed the question of whether or not granting rights to gay couples was ever intended by the framers of the state constitution: "Our understanding of liberty changes. It has always changed. They had no idea this debate would ever happen. But remember, the signers of the US Constitution had no idea that I would be here talking to you."

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THURSDAY 2:25 p.m.
Getting into the gallery

On the fourth floor, dozens of people are standing in line to get in the gallery to listen to the debate in person. There are pro-amendment people mixed in with anti-amendment people, none of whom necessarily want to engage each other for fear of setting off a shouting match. Christopher Mason of Westminster, a gay man who was in the gallery earlier, said he started crying during State Senator Jarrett Barrios's speech. (Barrios, who recently adopted two children with his partner Doug Hattaway, talked about how the antigay amendment would affect him personally.) "In the gallery it was really emotional. I was in the front row with five other guys who were crying. I was crying." Noting how many state legislators aren't even present for the debate, Mason say: "That pisses me off so bad."

Nearby is Charles Coudert of Sherborn who supports an amendment to the constitution to ban gay marriage and describes the constitutional convention as an "historic moment." He supports an amendment to the constitution because, "I am for traditional marriage. I don't believe a performance of homosexual acts should be a requirement for state benefits and that's what's going on." With Coudert is his friend Richard Downing, also of Sherborn. Downing is upset with his state representative David Linsky, who voted against House Speaker Tom Finneran's antigay amendment yesterday and in favor of Senate President Robert Travaglini's compromise amendment. Downing complains that Linsky has suggested that putting the question of gay marriage rights before voters would constitute a tyranny of the majority over the minority. "I hope in the next election he will be the victim of the tyranny of the majority when they kick him out of office," Downing says.

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THURSDAY 1:15 p.m.
The lobbying and conversations continue

A young woman named Javene Decker roams the press area handing out copies of a one-and-a-half page fact sheet from Concerned Women of America on what gay activists say about marriage. Two quotes from New York Press columnist Michelangelo Signorele, for example, are featured on the handout. All of the quotes add up to a desire on the part of gay people to overthrow the institution of marriage.

When asked by a reporter if she was a lobbyist, Decker says she's working on her own. She just downloaded the fact sheet from the Internet and made copies to hand out. It's important that people understand, she says, that there are gay people who "see this as a tool to completely redefine what they see as an archaic institution." She's soon confronted by some gay activists. As they go back and forth, Mary Bonauto, who argued the gay marriage lawsuit before the Supreme Judicial Court, looks at the handout. Michelangelo Signorele isn't credible on this issue, Bonauto tells Decker. And his views on marriage certainly don't represent hers.

Decker tells Bonauto that she's afraid that "if there is a certain legal precedent then there are certain very aggressive smart attorneys--" at which point Bonauto cuts her off: "I'm one of them," she says.

Bonauto tells Decker that she wants to go over the points on the handout one by one. She also asks Decker if she's read the SJC decision. Decker admits she hasn't. They move off to one side to talk further and are followed by a bunch of photographers who are snapping away as well as reporters trying to hear what's being said.

Bonauto turns to the press to shoo them away. "We're just having a conversation," she says.

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