By Jenn Abelson
and Jack Hagel, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, 1/26/2004

The battle over gay marriage spread across Massachusetts yesterday, as nearly 2,000 opponents rallied in Fall River, Worcester, and Springfield, calling for a change in the state Constitution to restrict marriage to unions between men and women.

The rallies occurred as Catholic churches across the state urged their congregations to oppose the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. The activities underscored an urgency set by the Legislature's plan to debate a proposed contitutional amendment on Feb. 11 in what some see as the last chance to undermine the ruling before it takes effect in May.

Supporters of gay marriage protested outside all three of yesterday's rallies.

Organizers estimated as many as 175 protesters stood outside the Worcester rally, and 100 protested outside the rally in Springfield. In Fall River, about 50 protesters held signs in support of gay marriage, before police asked them to move from the private property on which the rally was held.

Inside the St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School gymnasium in Worcester, Bishop Daniel Patrick Reilly told the hundreds of people in attendance that the SJC's ruling in November was "a terrible, terrible challenge for our society."

"We look upon marriage as a good institution, as a relationship and union between one man and one woman," Reilly said. He urged the audience, which organizers estimated at nearly 900, to "protect and support the institution of marriage" by opposing gay marriage.

In Fall River, about 750 people packed the Bishop Connolly High School to listen to lawmakers, religious leaders, and activists. Several speakers urged those in attendance to contact their lawmakers in support of banning gay marriage.

State Representative Philip Travis, a Rehoboth Democrat who filed legislation that would change the Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage, told the assembly the issue is the most important vote he'll take in 22 years in the Legislature. He compared it to another historic court action -- the US Supreme Court decision in 1973 that legalized abortion.

"This is equivalent to Roe v. Wade," Travis said. "We run our government by a Legislature and a governor who pass laws, not a state judiciary, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who make laws from the bench."

In Springfield, an estimated 400 people listened as representatives of various faiths urged those in attendance to support the amendment limiting marriage to a union between a man and a woman. Bill Collins, an electrical contractor from Springfield, said he planned to call his representative and senator.

Collins, 78, opposes gay marriage, but said what's more important is that voters, not the unelected judiciary, be allowed to decide such an important issue. If the Legislature votes this year and next year to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, the issue would go before voters in 2006.

"If we can at least vote on it, and if the people vote for it, I can accept it," he said. "This shouldn't be decided by a 4-to-3 decision of judges."

Bev Baccelli, 54, of Mattapoisett, protested outside the Fall River rally along with her partner, Liz DiCarlo, 54. Baccelli, who is Catholic, said she probably knew many of the people inside and wanted to show them that gay marriage concerns people they know.

"I am here to put a face to gay families and gay parents to the people who are attending this rally," said Baccelli, a social worker, who married DiCarlo, a registered nurse, in Toronto over the summer. Baccelli held a sign that said, "Gay families are real families just like yours."

Catholic groups plan more than 20 meetings at local parishes in the next two weeks to build support for a change in the state Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.

At St. Michael Church in North Andover yesterday, the Rev. John Delaney encouraged worshipers to speak out in support of the constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Hogan read a homily, signed by the three priests of the parish, describing the SJC decision that opened the door to same-sex marriage as "judicial tyranny."

"It is crucial that all of us call upon our elected officials to defend the traditional understanding of marriage," Delaney said. Worshipers were given a sample letter to lawmakers, which they were encouraged to send to urge support for the constitutional amendment.

During the Mass, a lector recited a prayer asking God to "enlighten all in the Legislature as they prepare for a serious vote." The parish bulletin included an announcement of the nearest archdiocesan meeting on the marriage issue.

In the Springfield diocese, which covers the four counties in Western Massachusetts, Bishop Thomas Dupre has been traveling to large parishes to reach as many parishioners as possible with the church's message on gay marriage, said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the diocese.

Yesterday, Dupre took his message to St. Thomas Parish in Palmer. The diocese has also sent to its 130 parishes announcements to be inserted in weekly bulletins and suggestions that pastors address the issue during Mass, Dupont said.

Some supporters of same-sex marriage are also planning a push in advance of the planned Feb. 11 legislative session.

Rabbi Devon A. Lerner, cochairwoman of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry, said her group plans a prayer breakfast near the State House on Feb. 3 and then a day of lobbying legislators to show its support for the court decision.

"There's a huge amount of support within the religious community for the freedom of same-sex couples to marry," she said.

As an example, Lerner said she knew of five churches yesterday that held educational forums in support of same-sex marriage. Some ministers and rabbis have been speaking from the pulpit and writing editorials to their local newspapers, as well, she said.

At the Worcester rally, Laurie Letourneau, founder of Mass Voices For Traditional Marriage, said that gay-marriage opponents "won't stand still." Before the two-hour rally began, Letourneau ripped a sign out of the hands of an audience member that said "No Homos Need Apply."

"We're not trying to denigrate anybody," Letourneau told the assembly. "This is about love, not about hate."

Michael Paulson of the Globe staff contributed to this report, which was written by Globe correspondent John McElhenny.