CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Less than a week after the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that gay marriages are permissible under the state constitution, this city is poised to become the first in the nation to recognize same-sex marriages.

Members of the city council say they will ignore a warning from Republican Gov. Mitt Romney to table the issue while the state Legislature crafts a response to the court's ruling. And those council members say they have the votes to approve a resolution tonight condoning the unions.

"When you protect a small group of people's rights, you protect all people's right," said Councilor Denise Simmons. "We're doing the right thing."

The ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court gave the Legislature 180 days to amend the state's marriage laws to include same-sex couples. Romney has threatened to reject marriage licenses issued to any gay couples before the expiration of that six-month period.

"I would hope that any city or any licensing authority would respect the decision of the court," said Attorney General Thomas Reilly. "The Legislature has some time here to deal with that."

But the councilors of Cambridge, a liberal city on the Charles River and home of Harvard University, are not waiting for permission to act. Simmons pledged to defy Romney's threat and take up the resolution tonight.

National gay rights groups have descended upon Massachusetts to lobby lawmakers to comply with last Tuesday's ruling and permit gay marriage throughout the state. The decision sets the stage for gay marriage legislation that would surpass domestic partnership rights codified in California, Vermont, and other states.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, a San Francisco-based civil rights group, celebrated the decision, calling it a "monumental" victory. "Things will never be the same," the group said.

"Nothing short of marriage can provide the protections, obligations and benefits of marriage," said Winnie Stachelberg, political director of Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group in Washington.

So far, Cambridge is the only Massachusetts city considering an immediate policy change following the ruling, said Linda E. Hutchenrider, president of the Massachusetts Town Clerks' Association.

Even in Provincetown, a Cape Cod community in which 701 gay couples have registered since 1993, the assistant town clerk, Aaron Leventman, said he has informed more than 20 people since Tuesday that they remain ineligible for marriage licenses.

"We've been getting calls from people asking if they can get married today," he said. "People from all over the country will come here to get married. It has the reputation of being a gay mecca."

The marriage proposal in Cambridge has four sponsors on the nine-member council; it needs one additional vote to gain passage.

Simmons, who is openly gay, and Councilor Brian Murphy submitted the proposal on Tuesday, hours after the court ruling. On Wednesday, two other councilors, Kenneth Reeves and Marjorie Decker, endorsed the measure. Decker and Simmons said they believe the fifth vote is certain.

The city has a history of advocating for gay rights. In 1992, the Council passed an ordinance granting healthcare to the domestic partners and children of gay employees. The policy stood until last year, when a judge ruled it illegal, leaving 100 families without medical benefits.

Decker said Tuesday's ruling means benefits will be returned to those families. "I would be surprised if this didn't pass close to unanimous," she said.

Fifty percent of Massachusetts residents surveyed for a Boston Globe/WBZ- TV poll released Sunday said they agreed with the Supreme Judicial Court ruling, while 38 percent opposed it. A separate Boston Sunday Herald poll found 49 percent said they support legalizing gay marriage, while 38 percent oppose it. Both polls, conducted after Tuesday's decision, had margins of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The polls appear to show more support for gay couples in Massachusetts than the nation as a whole. A recent national poll by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found Americans oppose legalizing gay marriage, 59 percent to 32 percent. That survey, conducted Oct. 15-19, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Sue Hyde, 51, said she and her partner of 18 years, who are raising two children, had little interest in getting married in Vermont or Canada. But the court ruling, she said, has created an opportunity.

"We've discussed it over the years, never with the idea we'd be able to do it in our home state," she said. "It's an exciting possibility."

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

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