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Supporters of an anti-gay-marriage measure filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday seeking up to $5 mill in damages from Massachusetts lawmakers who blocked a final vote on the proposed constitutional amendment last month.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by the group VoteOnMarriage.org, claims the 109 state lawmakers violated the supporters' rights to free speech and right to petition the government.

The state House and Senate last month chose to end debate before discussing an amendment that would ban gay marriage in the only state that allows it. VoteOnMarriage.org is asking the court to interpret the recess as a vote in favor of the amendment. Many lawmakers said the vote was designed to kill the amendment.

The legislature is scheduled to take up the question again Jan. 2, the last day of the session. Supporters of the question fear lawmakers will again avoid taking a vote, killing the proposed amendment.

Glen Lavy, a lawyer representing the group, says the lawsuit is needed to force lawmakers to follow the constitution. It seeks $500,000 from the lawmakers for the cost of the group's legal battles and another $5 million in punitive damages. The damages would be split 109 ways and lawmakers would be held personally liable, he said.

"We would like to put an end to the Massachusetts Legislature thumbing its nose at citizen initiatives," Lavy said. "This lawsuit is about holding those legislators responsible for their illegal conduct."

Gary Buseck, legal director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, calls the lawsuit "laughable" and said it was at the "outer limits of plausibility."

It is the second lawsuit designed to force lawmakers to take a vote on the question.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and other opponents of gay marriage filed a suit with the state Supreme Judicial Court asking the court to force lawmakers to take a vote on the proposed amendment or, if they fail to act, to put the question on the 2008 ballot anyway. The case is pending.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that the state must allow gay marriage. Massachusetts is the only state to do so, although Connecticut and Vermont allow same-sex civil unions. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in October that denying the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples violates the state constitution's equal-protection clause. The court imposed a six-month deadline for its ruling to be enacted. (AP)

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