BOSTON (AP) – The Massachusetts Legislature rejected a proposed change to the state constitution Wednesday aimed at banning gay marriage, a striking reversal that preserves the state’s status as the only place in the nation where same-sex couples can wed.

A year after Massachusetts politicians appeared destined to undo a court order that has allowed thousands of same-sex couples to marry since May 17, 2004, the Legislature voted 157-39 against the proposed constitutional amendment.

It was the second time the Legislature had confronted the measure. Lawmakers were required to approve it in two consecutive sessions before the proposal could move to the statewide ballot in 2006 for a final decision by voters.

The measure, which would have allowed Vermont-style civil unions, won passage by a 105-92 last year. But the political and social landscape had changed dramatically since then.

Gone was the intensity, the seemingly endless debate and, in some quarters, the taste for stripping away the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples. Some 55 lawmakers switched their votes, all from supporting the measure to opposing it in this last round.

“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, a 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.”

The proposal also was opposed by critics of gay marriage, who want to push for a more restrictive measure.

“The union of two women and two men can never consummate a marriage. It’s physically impossible,” said state Rep. Phil Travis, a Democrat. “The other 49 states are right and we are wrong.”

Lawmakers already are preparing for a battle over another proposed amendment that would ban both gay marriage and civil unions. The earliest that initiative could end up on the ballot is 2008.

“We’re excited. We’re pumped. This is great. This is exactly what we wanted,” said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which opposes gay marriage.

The swift vote, after just two hours of debate, was a striking departure from a year earlier when lawmakers haggled for days over the right language for the amendment, sometimes breaking into tears when pleading their case.

The moment the vote was announced, cheers erupted from the gay marriage supporters who watched the proceedings from the House chamber’s public gallery: “Thank you, Massachusetts!” The vote means the question will be kept off the 2006 ballot and same-sex marriage will remain legal in Massachusetts, at least for now.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, but today we celebrate,” Sen. Jarrett Barrios, D-Cambridge, an openly gay lawmaker, told the cheering crowd.

Opponents of gay marriage also declared victory, saying the defeat of the amendment paves the way for the launch of a second, more restrictive proposed amendment that would ban gay marriage without allowing civil unions. The earliest that could get on the ballot in 2008.

“We’re excited. We’re pumped. This is great. This is exactly what we wanted. It absolutely launches us into the signature drive next week,” said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.

Supporters of the new plan must gather about 65,000 signatures, then submit it to the Legislature.

Because citizens must go out and collect signatures first, far fewer lawmakers would need to support it to wind up on a statewide ballot before voters; Only 50 lawmakers – 25 percent of the 200-member Legislature – would need to vote in favor of it in two constitutional conventions for it to be put on the 2008 ballot.

Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who is weighing a run for president, supports the more restrictive anti-gay marriage amendment. However, he doesn’t get to vote on whether it would move forward to a statewide ballot, and the Legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic, giving him little directly sway on the issue.

The state’s highest court ruled in November 2003 that same-sex couples had a right under the state constitution to marry.

In the past year and a half, more than 6,100 same-sex couples have wed in Massachusetts, though officials have barred out-of-state couples from getting married here, citing a 1913 law that prohibits couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home states. A lawsuit challenging the legality of that law is pending.

Within a year of the first Massachusetts marriages, 11 states pushed through constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, joining six others that had done so earlier.

The Connecticut Legislature approved civil unions in April, joining Vermont in creating the designation that creates the same legal rights as marriage without calling it such. Earlier this month, California lawmakers passed a measure legalizing same-sex marriage, though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised to veto it.

AP-ES-09-14-05 1839EDT