Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Marriage Battle Becomes Siege

We learned several key truths yesterday:
  • The Senate President will help equal rights only when it clearly benefits him. He's going to require extra attention from the Governor, legislators, marriage-equality lobbyists, and each of us this session.
  • We are due at least seven months of lies, distraction and divisiveness into the next ConCon.
  • House Speaker (and frequent GLBT friend) Sal DiMasi can't carry the day when Bobby Travaglini presides over the ConCon.
I am firmly with the new Governor in stating that civil rights of any minority must never be up for plebiscite. The immoral nasties pushing this amendment have an unrelenting chant that the voters have a right to strip existing civil rights from others, in this case homosexuals.

Before the next ConCon:
  • Donate to the chief marriage-equality lobbying groups -- MassEquality and the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. They are the first line against the toxic distortions of the anti-gay, anti-SSM forces.
  • Encourage Patrick by visit if you can or by call, email or letter. Let him know this is a key value to you.
  • Contact the 62 who voted against marriage equality by passing this amendment through this time. If one is in your district, raise hell. Make this contact at last once a month to tell them how you want them to vote.
  • Thank your senator and representative who voted against the amendment and encourage them to continue and to persuade the confused.
It's a shame, a damned shame, that we have such hateful people here pushing this amendment. We can fight and win this good cause...if we start today.

The ideologues like Ray Flynn and the theocrat-politicians like Sean O'Malley are hopeless. However, ordinary legislators are subject to pressure of involved and focused voters (that's you).

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

But here's my question -

How did it benefit Travalini to give Mitt Romeny this wonderdul parting gift?

Why would he give Romney this huge drum to beat on the road to the White House?

Trav should have given him a (S)wift kick in the pants instead.

Anonymous said...

Vigil to Call for Stopping the Hate

The January 10th vigil organized by the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry takes on new urgency with the first-round approval of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Despite expectations that the amendment would meet a procedural death, Senate President Robert Travaglini forced an immediate vote on the petition without allowing debate. The amendment received 61 votes, more than the 50 required to advance.

The vigil was called in response to an assault and battery on a pro-equality demonstrator by the Executive Director of ”Catholic Citizenship” in Worcester on December 16, 2006. “My concern is that we’re going to see increased levels of anti-GLBT hate crimes the longer this poisonous debate lasts,” warned Don Gorton, Chair of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. “Statistical data show a correlation between campaigns against gay marriage and violence based on sexual orientation bias.”

The vigil will make a call on marriage equality opponents to tone down their rhetoric lest the violence on display in Worcester become still more widespread. Gorton commented further: “It sends a very bad signal when a leading advocate of banning same-sex marriage himself perpetuates violence. With our opponents carrying on their crusade for the foreseeable future, they have a responsibility to actively work against the anti-gay violence that is the corollary of what they are doing.” A dialogue to stop the hate and promote peace will be the goal of the vigil.

These are the details of the Vigil:

A Candlelight Vigil
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
6:30 PM, On the Boston Common
At the Corner of Tremont and Boylston

massmarrier said...

Likes Bikes 2, let's keep in mind that Bobby is not too bright and that he is puerile, highly emotional. Don't expect deep analysis or big-picture views.

He's had years of vacuum in the governor's office. During that time, he did not step up as leader. He is at least as guilty as Romney/Healey in our state's troubles.

He does strive for loyalty from legislators and voters. Here, he clearly doesn't care if this helps Mitt. He's likely thinking how he can win a power play with the new governor and keep the many DINO voters and lawmakers' affection.