BOSTON -- The anti-gay organization that wants to ban gay marriages in Massachusetts said Tuesday it has collected enough signatures to ask the Legislature to put the question before voters, the Boston Globe reports.

Bryan Rudnick of Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage said the group collected 110,000 signatures, far more than the required 57,100. Of the signatures collected, about 80,000 have been certified by town clerks, Rudnick said.

If approved by voters, the question would amend the state Constitution to define marriage in Massachusetts as a union between one man and one woman.

Gay civil rights advocates say the amendment is unconstitutional because it would single out gay and lesbian couples and deny them a right guaranteed to every other citizen. They are asking the state's highest court to block the question from the ballot.

The question would also prohibit the state from bestowing marriage-related benefits to unmarried couples, a move rights advocates say could invalidate domestic partnership arrangements, deepening the discriminatory bias of the law.

Because the ballot question seeks to change the state Constitution, the proposal must be approved by at least 25 percent of lawmakers in two successive sessions before it can go before voters. The earliest it could appear on the ballot is 2004.