BOSTON (AP) – Massachusetts lawmakers ended debate on proposed constitutional amendments Wednesday before dealing with the most volatile issue on their agenda: a proposal to outlaw gay marriage in the only state where it is legal.

The move to recess until Nov. 9 put off the decision on the politically charged issue until after the general election. The House gallery erupted in applause after the vote to recess was announced.

Senate President Robert Travaglini had said he intended to bring all 20 proposed amendments to a vote, but had warned lawmakers might not be able to get to every proposed amendment on Wednesday.

Some gay activists had urged sympathetic lawmakers to use a parliamentary tactic to get around an immediate vote. They worried that supporters of the amendment would’ve been able to garner the 50 votes needed to get one step closer to putting the question to voters.

“We now have four more months to show legislators how well marriage equality is working in Massachusetts. We hope they will see that Massachusetts is ready to move on. It’s hard to come up with a single issue that has been the subject of as much political debate and input as marriage has,” said Marc Solomon, campaign director for gay rights group MassEquality.

Hundreds of people on both sides of the issue rallied outside the Statehouse Wednesday as lawmakers made their way through a stack of proposed constitutional amendments dealing with everything from health care to redistricting.

Demonstrators held signs, waved banners, sang songs and urged passing motorists to honk in support of their cause.

“I think this is an issue for the people to decide,” said Jonathan Gal, 39, of Lexington, wearing a sticker that read “Support One Man, One Woman.” “I don’t like the way this is being imposed on us by a small minority – the courts and the Legislature.”

Across the street, supporters of same-sex unions cast the issue as one of civil rights.

“When does civil rights get put on the ballot for everyone to vote on?” said Jim Singletary, 44, of Salem, who last year married his longtime partner, Jim Maynard.

“This is for fairness for my family,” Maynard said.

The goal of the gay marriage amendment, which supporters hope to put on the 2008 ballot, would be to block future gay marriages in Massachusetts. More than 8,000 same-sex couples have taken vows since gay marriages began in May 2004.

To get on the ballot, the question must twice win the backing of 25 percent – or 50 – of the state’s 200 lawmakers: once during the current session and again during the session starting in January.

The debate comes less than a week after New York’s highest court rejected same-sex couples’ bid to win marriage rights and Georgia’s high court reinstated that state’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Gay marriage opponents in Massachusetts got a boost this week from an unlikely ally – the Supreme Judicial Court, the same court that handed down the historic ruling legalizing gay marriage.

On Monday, the court ruled that the proposed amendment could go forward, provided it clear the remaining legislative hurdles. Gay marriage supporters had sued to block the question.

It’s not the first time Massachusetts lawmakers have been confronted with the issue. In 2002 opponents of gay marriage tried to place a similar constitutional amendment on the ballot, but lawmakers voted to adjourn rather than vote on the issue.

Lawmakers again addressed the issue after the 2003 court ruling that legalized gay marriage. The Legislature approved an proposed amendment banning gay marriage and legalizing Vermont-style civil unions. They later reversed themselves.