E-Mail This Article to a Friend HEROES OF THE CONCON A Phoenix nod to those who made a difference last week BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

The debate that everyone feared would be ugly, divisive, and homophobic turned out to be shockingly moving instead. At last week’s two-day-long constitutional convention, Massachusetts representatives and senators pontificated on lofty ideals like love, loyalty, justice, discrimination, family, and equality. We heard heartfelt tributes from normally aloof legislators. And we saw surprising vote counts ultimately defeat three measures that would have completed the first of three steps to ban same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth. While many have played a role in this story, the Phoenix recognizes these people for truly standing out — and hopes they’ll be joined by others on March 11, when the convention reconvenes.

REPRESENTATIVE LIZ MALIA

Over the many years that Malia has represented Jamaica Plain residents at the State House, she’s become known for her quiet, humble demeanor — as displayed when she took the podium last Thursday to talk about the anti-gay constitutional amendment. "I am not an eloquent speaker," the openly lesbian legislator told fellow representatives and senators. "I am not one of the great minds of this House."

While her words were self-effacing, Malia’s steady presence on Beacon Hill shouldn’t be underestimated. The unimposing way she goes about business has clearly had an effect on her colleagues. Representative Shaun Kelly, the only House Republican to oppose an amendment banning same-sex marriage, even invoked her name in a speech that day moving to adjourn the convention.

In her remarks, Malia apologized for getting personal. "There is no other way for those of us in the gay and lesbian community to convey the needs and reality of our lives unless we tell you about them," she said, explaining that her partner of 30 years, Rita, might lose the house that they bought together should Malia die first. "Look into your hearts," she urged. Then she added with a devastatingly deadpan delivery: "I understand it’s not a possibility for everyone."

SENATOR BRIAN JOYCE

Joyce might be applauded for his willingness to go against the staunch anti-gay-marriage position of his own Catholic Church by standing against the amendment. But the Phoenix wants to commend the Milton Democrat for something else: his willingness to make an ass of himself to serve an important cause. Late last Thursday, at around 10:30 p.m., Joyce pulled out a page from the February 8 Boston Globe and read a long op-ed piece in favor of gay marriage by the Reverend Peter Gomes of Harvard University. That action launched the filibustering of the amendment, thereby holding off the anti-gay-marriage forces until March 11, when the constitutional convention will reconvene.

House and Senate members quickly sensed the filibuster. Someone wondered aloud if Joyce intended to read the entire Globe. Other gay-marriage opponents yelled, "Mr. President! Mr. President!" As many as 20 legislators who wanted to vote shouted, "You don’t need us" and stormed out of the House chamber in protest. All the while, Joyce rambled. At one point, he told colleagues, "Two people who shall go unnamed said they prefer the bird sightings from the Globe. But this is serious business." Indeed.

REPRESENTATIVE BYRON RUSHING

Undoubtedly, Rushing delivered one of the most powerful and emotional speeches of the two-day convention. The black legislator, a Democrat from the South End who is also an Episcopal minister, talked about gay marriage first as a civil-rights issue, and then as a secular issue. Rushing gets props for infusing his speech with illuminating facts — in 1790, for instance, Massachusetts was the only state not to record any slaves on the federal Census. But Rushing also gets kudos for speaking truth to the many black ministers who have come out against granting civil-marriage rights to same-sex couples. These leaders, Rushing pointed out, "have forgotten their relationship to the struggle of the rights of African-Americans. They have forgotten it in an incredible way, because they are telling us that black people, once they have gotten those rights, don’t have to share." Addressing those ministers directly, Rushing added, "Shame on you." At which point House and Senate members erupted into applause.

SENATE PRESIDENT ROBERT TRAVAGLINI

By the end of the day on Wednesday, it seemed that Travaglini, an East Boston Democrat, hadn’t quite mastered his first attempt at running a ConCon — indeed, House Speaker Tom Finneran had duped Travaglini into giving him a chance to make an opening statement, and then used it to insert his own surprise language. Travaglini had a tough time with some of the House’s procedural rules, and he couldn’t keep his fellow legislators quiet. But he made up for all these foibles and more on Thursday, when he joined opponents of the amendment barring same-sex marriage by implementing a successful filibuster.

In doing so, Travaglini essentially stalled his own "compromise" amendment, which would have banned same-sex marriage but allowed for civil unions. He had ironed out the language with Finneran, but didn’t entirely trust that the Speaker and his backers would support the amendment if it came up for a vote. So he enabled the filibuster by deftly fielding the repeated objections of anti-gay-marriage legislators, who were anxious to vote before midnight. And he did so with the humor that’s made him a popular member of the Senate. When Vincent Pedone, an anti-gay-marriage House member who had earlier complained that a member had to be sitting in his or her seat before being recognized, protested that Travaglini had called only on pro-gay-marriage legislators, the Senate president replied, "The observation is not entirely accurate." As he quipped, "I am unaware of even the identity of some of your colleagues. If I don’t know who they are, I don’t know where they stand. And you are trying to tell me where they sit."

REPRESENTATIVE SHAUN KELLY

Every politician probably dreams of changing hearts and minds with his or her oratory skills. Kelly may have done just that on the House floor last Thursday. Not long after the convention convened at noontime, Kelly began his speech with five simple words: "Liz, this is for you."

The Liz in question was Liz Malia, of course. Kelly, a Republican representative from Dalton, wanted Bay State legislators to remember their colleague and friend. As they debated the issue of civil-marriage rights for same-sex couples, he wondered, how could he and his fellow legislators seek to take any rights away from Malia and her long-time partner? "You would not say you are superior to the gentlewoman from Jamaica Plain," Kelly noted. "You would never say that to her face." He offered a motion to adjourn that failed by a landslide 153-to-44 vote. But Kelly’s moving words — which brought tears to the eyes of Malia, and prompted Senator Susan Tucker to weep openly in the House chamber — still resonate today.

SENATOR DIANNE WILKERSON

The Roxbury Democrat was the first to speak on a personal note in the chamber. She talked about her own family history, from slavery through segregation in Arkansas. And about the fact that many black people have names ending in "son" because it signifies their ancestors’ masters. Names like Jefferson, she said. And Wilkerson. Her eyes welled up at that point. After regaining her composure, she told her colleagues that she would vote against any amendment to ban or restrict marriage rights. "Through my lenses the picture could not be more clear," she said. "Simply put, this is a civil-rights issue. It should not be left to the public to be decided by popular vote." Her speech left many of her colleagues deeply moved.

REPRESENTATIVE KATHI-ANNE REINSTEIN

The speech by Reinstein, an understated Revere Democrat, was hardly poetic. But what she lacked in eloquence, she more than made up for in honesty. Reinstein simply told it like it was. Nothing more. Nothing less. "I honestly feel, who cares? I mean, who cares if gay people want to marry each other?" she asked.

In similarly candid fashion, she also asked: "Has anyone here been judged?" Answering her own question, she said: "I have. I am fat, ugly, a baby killer, a murderer, a liar, a slob, a dirty politician because we all are, a tree hugger, a waste of space." Reinstein ultimately left no question about where she stood on the matter: "Any member of this Commonwealth should be able to marry someone who is their best friend and soul mate if they choose."

SENATOR BRIAN LEES

The Phoenix recognizes Lees for one simple reason: his willingness to break ranks with Governor Mitt Romney, who tried to solidify Republican support for an anti-gay constitutional amendment. Lees, a frequent ally of the governor’s, didn’t fall into line despite heavy pressure from Romney — a move that has now reportedly strained their relationship. Lees, working with Travaglini, crafted a compromise measure that would have defined marriage as a heterosexual union but allowed for civil unions. It’s safe to say that without Lees’s leadership on this issue, many moderate Republicans might have cast votes for one of the two more odious amendments that sought to ban any legal recognition of same-sex couples.

SENATOR MARIAN WALSH

The West Roxbury Democrat is known to be a devout and practicing Catholic, a pro-life backer, and a politician who enjoys a formidable base of socially conservative supporters. Perhaps that explains why Walsh didn’t draw attention to herself at last week’s constitutional convention. She didn’t take the podium to explain her views. She just sat and listened. Yet what Walsh didn’t say with words, she said with action. Indeed, she surprised many State House observers when she voted against all three of the measures banning same-sex marriage. Walsh may get heat from scores of Catholic constituents. But what she did was the truly compassionate thing.

REPRESENTATIVE DAVID FLYNN’S UNNAMED FAMILY MEMBER

On Thursday afternoon, Flynn, a Bridgewater Democrat, revealed the toll that the gay-marriage debate can take on families. When he rose to the microphone that day, he wasn’t necessarily speaking to the 198 representatives and senators before him.

"I lost a member of my family last night because of my vote," he told his colleagues. He proceeded to explain that an unnamed relative — "a member of my family," is how he put it — had essentially disowned him for his actions the day before, when Flynn voted for two measures that would have barred same-sex couples from civil marriage. Flynn seemed tormented by this. "I couldn’t sleep last night," he confided. "I say to that member of the family, ‘I love you and want you back in the family.’"

Flynn has yet to change his stance on the gay-marriage issue. But kudos to his unnamed relative for making him rethink his misguided views. Kudos to the relative for making Flynn understand what it’s like to feel alienated, as gay men and lesbians long have. And kudos for taking a stand.

THE 100-PLUS ACTIVISTS FOR GAY MARRIAGE WHO TURNED OUT AT THE CONVENTION ON THURSDAY

The scene at the State House on Thursday differed immensely from that of the day before. Gone were the busloads of gay-marriage opponents who had been shipped in from across the state by the Coalition for Marriage. Gone, too, were many of the activists on the pro-gay-marriage side. Until, that is, about 5 p.m. After the work day ended, scores of gay activists turned out to voice their support for civil-marriage rights for same-sex couples. And they kept coming and coming. By midnight, when the convention finally ended with a successful filibuster, the activists had broken into patriotic songs. They sang "God Bless America" and "This Land Is Your Land," swaying back and forth while holding a giant American flag. If any legislators had doubted the strength of this movement, they never would again.