BOSTON -- The hotly-contested issue of gay marriage heads to the State House again when lawmakers convene a state constitutional convention, but it's unlikely they'll actually take a vote on whether to send the gay marriage question to state voters.

Lawmakers must decide before the end of the year whether to let Massachusetts citizens decide if gay marriage should be legal in the state.

A proposed constitutional amendment would ban gay marriage, but legislators have continually avoided making a decision on whether voters should be allowed to vote on the question.

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that the vote is unlikely to make a decsion Wednesday, but the new Senate President Therese Murray, who opposes a ban, has said she wants to finish working on the state budget first and is expected to postpone a vote on the gay marriage question.

If legislators were to vote today, analysts said the amendment would most likely get the 50 votes needed to put the question on a ballot so voters could decide on the issue. Based on past voting records and the campaign positions staked out by new lawmakers, supporters of the question have at least 57 votes -- seven more than the minimum 50 needed to force the question onto the ballot. Opponents need to get that number under 50 to block the question -- requiring at least eight lawmakers to have a very public change of heart.

While the vote is delayed, gay marriage supporters have been working hard to change lawmakers' minds.

"We're working pretty relentlessly to convince legislators that it would be bad for Massachusetts," said Marc Solomon, the campaign director for MassEquality.

But opponents of gay marriage say that after years of debate and protests, there's little room left for lawmakers to have second thoughts.

"We feel very strongly that our votes are holding," said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which collected the signatures needed to get the proposed constitutional amendment this far.

"Fifty-three of those who cast votes with us very clearly have returned and have stated publicly and to their constituents that they will vote that way again," he said. "Plus we have four new lawmakers who say they will support us."

Gay marriage activists aren't so sure those votes are solid.

One new tactic they hope to use is to have members of the state's all-Democratic congressional delegation who back gay marriage pressure state lawmakers whose district overlaps with theirs to consider changing their vote to block the amendment.

"We're asking them to talk to legislators that they know to vote down the amendment, telling them it would be bad for Massachusetts, that it would be a major distraction," Solomon said. "They have relationships with legislators they work with them on local projects. It's just another avenue."

Supporters of the amendment say gay marriage activist are sounding increasingly desperate.

"There is a lot at stake on both sides but we think that going to the congressional delegation definitely shows an overreach," said Lisa Barstow, spokeswoman for the group VoteOnMarriage.org.

"I think they've crossed some lines here about how much influence do you want to have over the citizens taking up their constitutional rights to vote," she added.