Supporters of same-sex marriage in Montana said they'll wait for the outcome of this year's election before deciding whether to introduce a marriage equality bill in the state legislature.

Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, said it's too early to predict whether such a bill would find its way into the next legislative session.

"The Montana activist community, as small as it is, may decide that a marriage bill is not something it wants to pursue at this time," Kaufmann said. "But a lot is changing pretty quick."

Tom Facey, D-Missoula, introduced Montana's last marriage equality bill during the 2003 session. The bill, which would have lifted the state's ban on same-sex marriage, enjoyed bi-partisan support before dying in committee.

Karl Olson, director of Montana's gay rights advocacy group PRIDE, doesn't believe such a bill would pass in the state. But the national discussion, he said, is helping bring the issue of marriage equality to the forefront.

"This debate is really healthy and it's important to have," Olson said. "It reveals a lot about our country and our leaders."

Olson also said that introducing a new marriage bill in the state would depend on the outcome of this year's elections.

"We don't make decisions about specific bills until we see election results, and then we're going to see what's going on around the country," Olson said. "We're going to be working on this issue one way or another."

Olson said the recent debate over marriage equality has helped bring the issue of legal discrimination to the forefront. But while having the discussion is a good thing, he said, it doesn't come without consequences.

"It's not pain free, and it's not always comfortable," Olson said. "But PRIDE sees our work as part of a larger civil rights tradition. We recognize that some of this is going to hurt if we're to achieve full equality."

The last victory equal rights supporters scored in Montana came in 1997, when the state Supreme Court voided a 24-year-old law that had criminalized gay sex. In that case, the court concluded that the government had no place in the private bedrooms of consenting adults.

"We have seen this critical mass across the country," Olson said. "We think that's really energizing, not just for gay folks, but for all people who support equal rights."

In 2000, the Montana Human Rights Network and PRIDE invited Beth Robinson to the state to share her experience in helping create Vermont's Civil Union Act — the first such act in the nation.

Robinson, who served as co-council on the case Baker vs. Vermont, helped PRIDE and the Montana Human Rights Network focus on the civil rights aspect of marriage equality.

"She brought back the excitement of what they did achieve," Olson said. "She really provided a sound civil rights model in dealing with this stuff."

Olson cited other recent court rulings in the country, such as in Massachusetts, where the state's Supreme Court ruled that only full marriage rights for gay couples, not civil unions, would conform to the state's constitution.

The ruling set the stage for Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages.

A recent Supreme Court ruling also found that the sodomy laws in Texas were unconstitutional and a violation of privacy. In Ontario and British Colombia, same-sex marriage is now legal. And on Thursday, Rosie O'Donnell married her longtime girlfriend, Kelly Carpenter, in San Francisco, bringing the total same-sex marriages there to 3,300 since Feb. 12.

"I do think there's been progress," Kaufmann said when asked about the issue. "Some people have this aversion to allowing same-sex couples to marry, but almost in the same breath they say that those couples should have the same rights that married people do."

Olson also believes that progress has been made in Montana, thanks to the national debate.

"We've seen some major advances on the national and international level, and those have been real big," Olson said. "We've really seen some dominos fall, and Montana will be one of those dominos, eventually."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com