The amendment that would ban same-sex marriages in Massachusettswhere it has been legal for a yearfailed in their state legislature, 157-39. (It passed last year, but needed to pass for a second consecutive year to go on the ballot.)

This year, the crowds were tamer and some legislators who had initially supported the proposed change to the state constitution said they no longer felt right about denying the rights of marriage to same-sex couples.

“Gay marriage has begun, and life has not changed for the citizens of the commonwealth, with the exception of those who can now marry,” said state Sen. Brian Lees, an East Longmeadow Republican who had been a co-sponsor of the amendment. “This amendment which was an appropriate measure or compromise a year ago, is no longer, I feel, a compromise today.”