Committed to equality: why is Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich the only pro-gay politician to officially support gay marriage? (Marriage).

It's not unusual for politicians to woo gay voters with appearances at pride events, but celebrants at Boston's gay pride parade on June 8 were bowled over when Massachusetts gubernatorial hopeful Robert Reich told a crowd of several thousand that he endorses full marriage rights for same-sex couples. It's the furthest a gubernatorial candidate has ever gone in supporting equal rights for gay couples--and highlights the fact that gay marriage is a topic few gay-supportive leaders seem to want to discuss.

When marriage rights for gay couples is brought up at all, it's usually by conservatives who try to use it to scare off voters--as in Illinois's current gubernatorial race, in which Republican candidate Jim Ryan hoped to cast gay-friendly Democrat Rod Blagojevich as too liberal in ads implying that Blagojevich supports gay marriage. (He doesn't.)

"The far right knows that the word marriage can scare people away," said Chad Johnson, executive director of gay political group National Stonewall Democrats. "Civil unions don't evoke the kind of visceral reaction that marriage does."

Even politicians who've supported gay couples in other ways are reluctant to discuss marriage rights. While New York governor George Pataki, a Republican, has passed legislation making it easier for the same-sex partners of victims killed on September 11 to collect benefits, he has said he sees no reason to amend state law to recognize gay marriage. Similarly, Carl McCall and Andrew Cuomo, the pro-gay Democratic candidates hoping to unseat Pataki as governor this fall, both stop short of endorsing full gay marriage. And California governor Gray Davis--who has signed laws expanding legal rights for same-sex couples but is against gay marriage--has not taken a stance on civil unions, even in his race for reelection against Republican Bill Simon.

But Reich's taking such a bold stance in a liberal yet heavily Catholic state may represent a sea change in state politics. "He thinks this will help his candidacy," said Reich spokeswoman Dorie Clark. Even if Reich's campaign is unsuccessful, activists are hopeful that his vocal support will push the issue into the mainstream. Said Johnson: "The fact that [Reich] has gone on record [advocating gay marriage] permits other politicians to think about doing it themselves."