KnowThyNeighbor.org

Remove "Let the People Vote" Signs from Highway Overpasses NOW!

How to Remove Anti-Gay Signs from Massachusetts Highway Overpasses

VoteOnMarriage "Let The People Vote" signs are popping up on Massachusetts Highways and have no right to be there!!  So, when you see any of the infamous green and white "Let The People Vote" signs on public property, namely the bridge/overpasses on highways such as Route 128, 95 and 93, help us remove them.  I have spoken with the Massachusetts Highway Department's Maintenance Operations and was told that "if" Mass. Highway has the time and manpower, they will remove these signs as "no signage should be placed on overpasses."  I was also given the go ahead to remove the signs myself and KnowThyNeighbor is asking for your help.   Important Note:  Mass. Highway is broken down into Five Divisions.  I called Division 4 which is Weston, Willmington etc.  If you see signs in other parts of the state, call the specific division for your area.  A link is provided on the Mass. Highway website)

Last week, KnowThyNeighbor sent out an email to Kris Mineau of VoteOnMarriage and the Mass. Family Institute which was copied to Governor Romney's office, MassEquality, MassResistance and various bloggers. Download VoteOnMarriageEmail.doc. The nature of our email spoke to the sensitive nature of overpass signage and that we should ALL understand that it is in no interest of either side of the marriage issue to draw attention to the "welcome the service men and women home" signs that predominate the bridges.  I extended an olive branch, hoping that VoteOnMarriage would be decent enough to not put up its signs and leave the bridges to the families of returning soldiers.  Not only are signs still going up but in today's Boston Globe, (Overpasses become activist's podiums) there was a front page article about the positive usage of bridges for getting one's point across (with emphasis on "anti" war signage)  Hmm.  Whom did I tip off?  Romney's Press Secretary?  Typical...

What you can do and NEED to do.  If you see a "Let The People Vote" sign, either call the Mass Highway Department and ask for it to be removed, identify yourself and provide them with your phone number (the anti-gay activists constantly make "fake" phone calls so put your name to this)  OR (and more preferable) REMOVE IT YOURSELF.  Most of the signs are on the inside of the fence which means they can be safely removed.  DO NOT cut down any signs hung on the outside of a bridge overpass as you may run the risk of them falling on traffic below and you would be liable and could seriously injure someone.  Again, in any form of activism--SAFETY FIRST--think of yourself, but also others.  I cannot emphasize that strongly enough.  Take photos and send them to us.  And applaud yourselves for your personal activism.   

The men and women at Mass. Highway are not the bad guys here.  They work hard and are most concerned for our safety which is why they do not allow signage on overpasses.  We of course, look at signage on public property which promotes organizations and ballot questions that would take away our Equal Rights abhorent.  In speaking with Joe Nuzzi at Mass. Highway, I explained that a GLBT person being forced to view VoteOnMarriage signage during his or her commute would be analogous to any other minority seeing some sort of derogatory signage on public property.

Massachusetts Highway Department  ask for:  Maintenance Operations

Division 1   Lenox/Berkshires    Kevin Mahoney 413-637-5700

Division 2   Northampton/Springfield    John Hillman  413-582-0599

Division 3   Worcester   508-754-7204

Division 4   Arlington/Route 128  Joe Nuzzi/Peter Collette  781-641-8300

Division 5   Taunton/South Shore/Cape Cod   508-880-6633

Tom Lang, Director 

KnowThyNeighbor Shares Two Letters from Petition Signers

What the Petition ALL Boils Down To

Today I received two letters from two different women regarding the petition otherwise known as, "The Constitutional Amendment to Define Marriage."  One was from Chatham, Mass, the other from Northbridge, Mass.  Both women signed the petition, both have a different take on it.  The letters speak for themselves...about "ownership" of one's own actions, to hide behind rhetoric or to accept it...

Letter #1 (from Chatham)

I was extremely distressed to find my name on your website, as a signatory to Petition #05-02, The Constitutional Amendment to Define Marriage.  You state that your publication is to alert victims of possible fraud to act to have their names stricken from the petition.  I suspect that you are really publishing an "enemies list", equating the signing of the petition with the opposition to your pro-same sex marriage stance.

In fact, my signing of the petition was neither induced by fraud, nor did it indicate my stance on an appropriate legal definition of marriage.  What it did reflect my belief that a matter so profoundly meaningful to so many people should be allowed to go to the ballot and be voted on by the citizens of Massachusetts.

I understand the ramifications of signing a petition and the operation of the Freedom of Information Act.  Nonetheless, the publication of my name on your website is as abhorrent to me as it would be if it were published on an anti-same sex marriage website, with the inference that I was in support of that position.

I am therefore asking that you remove my name from the listing on your website immediately.  Your compliance will go a long way toward convincing me that you are objective and fair in your campaign to regularize same sex marriage in our state.

Letter #2 (From Northbridge)

Because I suffer from macular degeneration, I am legally blind.  I am unable to read without the aid of a closed circuit tv machine.  Therefore, when I was asked to sign the above petition last year, I asked what it said, since I could not read it myself.  I was told by the young man collecting signatures that it was a petition to put the question of gay marriage on the ballot so that people would have the opportunity to vote on the issue.

I specifically asked him if the petition took a stand against gay marriage.  Because I support marriage equality, I told him I would not sign if the petition were against gay marriage.  He assured me that it was not, but was "simply a mechanism to put the issue to a vote." 

When my daughter later read me the actual wording of the petition, I was quite upset.  I am a retired middle school teacher, and it pains me to think that my former students might now believe that I am homophobic, and that I do not support equal rights for all of them.  I feel that I was misled.

Tom Lang, Director

**follow-up** Are the signers being polled ??  from a letter from the daughter of the woman from Northbridge

"As I explained a couple of weeks ago in our telephone conversation, because the person who misled my mother into signing the petition is a family member, she did not wish to name him in the affidavit.  Of course, this person showed her no such consideration in having her associate her name with this hateful petition; as I mentioned previously, he did not have the integrity to sign it himself.

As you most likely know, anti-gay marriage people are apparently using the petition to contact people who signed.  My mother received a telephone call recently asking her about her views on gay marriage.  When she responded that she supported gay marriage, she said, "They hung up pretty quickly."

De-Hooding a Klansman

This past Monday, driving back from NYC, I received an interesting telephone call from a man claiming to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia.  In KnowThyNeighbor fashion, I took the opportunity to have a "civil" conversation with him.  Unfortunately, his input was stereotypic of what one would think a Klan member would say.  Nothing new--same ole same ole.  He had a voice changer activated which prompted my comment, "your voice sounds like a cross between George Bush and (SNL's) Church Lady."  This pushed him to light, "that's funny, I like you fay-got."

But there was nothing "funny" about this conversation, only an opportunity for me to learn a bit more about this person and his hate.  Mr. Klansman called me 7 times.  After I divulged that I was driving back from a Sotheby's Auction in New York (my real job), he told me that he wasn't really in Virginia, but driving behind me--of course lying to scare me.  He then told me that he was going to kill me because that is what he does "kill fay-gots."  At this point I had a sick feeling in my stomach, not for obvious reasons, but because I heard voices on his side of the phone.  I told this man, "you had better not have children within earshot of our conversation," to which he replied, "Yes I do, they are MY kids.  We kill fay-gots don't we kids?"  I heard the very young voices of at least two children reply, "Yeahhhh." 

What can I say?  I filed a police report and one with Verizon (my phone carrier).  When I told a former Manchester-by-the-Sea (my hometown) Selectman about this, she asked if I was afraid.  I answered, "yes, of course, for those children."  I don't know if this experience has numbed me, if it hasn't really sunk in yet, or has my politically-aware life caused me to expect phone calls such as this...  The reality that I live with everyday having seen as much as I have in the politico-religious realm in recent months is this...if this "Klansman" really carried out his threat of hitting me in the back of the head and "bashing" me as he put it, what would my friends, my peers, my neighbors or other bystanders do if they were present when it happened?  I can honestly say, " I don't know."  This is no reflection on them or me but speaks more to the nature of humanity.  And we ALL, unfortunately, are human.

Tom Lang, Co-Director

(I will be linking my notes of my "conversation" with this Klansman)

We don't need people talking to their neighbors (about same-sex marriage), we have the Goodridges for that...

The above is the near quote of Bay Windows publisher, Sue O'Connell in September of 2005, during her One In Ten Radio Program in an interview with Tom Lang, Co-Director of KnowThyNeighbor.org admonishing its mission of opening dialogue on the personal level.

Today, Bay Windows reported that Julie and Hillary Goodridge, the leading plaintiff couple in the Goodridge Decision which helped grant marriage rights to same-gendered couples in Massachusetts, have "amicably separated."  The details of the split have not been divulged nor has the couple's decision whether or not to proceed with divorce.  Mary Breslauer, the couple's spokesperson, is quoted in Bay Windows, "Relationships are both precious and vulnerable at the same time" and "theirs is no different."  And it is important to note that the announcement was done with the press as a means for the couple to "best protect their 10 year-old daughter, Annie."

There will be much speculation regarding the Goodridge separation and I am sure that pundits and activists on both sides of the fence will have a field day with this.  KnowThyNeighbor.org wishes Julie, Hillary and Annie Goodridge the strength and love that they will all need in this difficult time and in the future--our hearts are with you. 

Though the Goodridge announcement comes as a shock, Sue O'Connell's comment last Fall was much more shocking.   We are engaged in an Equal Rights debate in Massachusetts as well as in the 49 other states.  The GLBT community needs to start acting like it and "our people" need to be given not only the resources but the permission to become their own "spokespersons."  KnowThyNeighbor and its posting of the names of anti-equality petition signers together with our mission statement was and continues to be one way to motivate the GLBT and our supporters into personal advocacy. 

This is NOT about marriage.  This is NOT about couples.  This is NOT about who has the better political maneuver. This IS about you--single, married, divorced, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, intending to marry, not interested in marrying, looking for your the love of your life, having lost the love of your life, old, young, with children, or committed to not having children AND the Constitution/Country that is supposed to protect us all.

So, who do you have to speak for you now that you may no longer have Hillary and Julie Goodridge?   The most important person you can think of and (hopefully) the one who will always be on your side...YOURSELF!

Tom Lang,

Co-Director

**Important Clarification**

In reference to the above blog and email blast, I need to make a very important clarification on both our intent and of Sue O'Connell's statement.

Having spoken with Sue O'Connell regarding the One In Ten interview, Sue assures me that her statement about the Goodridges was posed on her show as a means to "play Devil's advocate" and that she believes and has always believed in the value of personal conversation on the subject of GLBT equality.

KnowThyNeighbor's email and blog were not directed at Sue O'Connell, Bay Windows, or the Goodridges, but were intended to once again establish the importance of personal activism in this fight for Equal Rights.

Tom Lang, Co-Director  (7/23/06 6:28 P.M.)

KTN ConCon Video; State House Demonstration

For those of you not paying attention, the anti-gay marriage amendment was not taken up at the July 12 Constitutional Convention as legislators only got partially through the agenda.  The ConCon is now scheduled to reconvene on November 9, two days after the general elections.  This has pissed the "VoteOnMarriage" contingent off to no end since they felt confident about getting their 50 votes and spent a bunch of money on silly radio ads like this one which pops the balloon of everyone in Massachusetts who thought they were living in the Caribbean:

So if you have never been to a ConCon before, here's a video which gives you a pretty good idea of what happens in front of the State House.  Note the massive KnowThyNeighbor.org "Vote Bigotry Out!" banner which is front and center as usual.  Featured in the video is KTN Treasurer Greg Kimball and I provide the off-camera commentary:

Aaron Toleos, Director
aaron@knowthyneighbor.org
(978) 821-4620

Gay Marriage "Menus" Delivered to State House

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Primary Contact: Tom Lang, Co-Director
Cell: (978) 335-0477

Secondary Contact: Aaron Toleos, Co-Director
Cell: (978) 821-4620

Gay Rights Group, KnowThyNeighbor.org, Dress as Waiters to Distribute "Menus" to Legislators Before Same-Sex Marriage Vote

View a pdf version of the packet that will be delivered to legislators.

Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, July 10, 2006 -- Volunteers from the gay rights group KnowThyNeighbor.org will be at the State House Monday, July 10th at 1pm, dressed in full waiter uniforms to distribute packets to senators and representatives with material entitled, "To Serve Massachusetts."  The packets, encouraging legislators to think seriously about Wednesday's vote whether or not to allow the Amendment to Define Marriage to move forward, include a parody of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man" and a darkly comedic "recipe" called, "VoteOnMarriage's Constitution Trifle" which provides a chronology of the anti-gay marriage initiative petition from beginning to present day.

All 200 Massachusetts legislators will be greeted by a white-gloved KnowThyNeighbor.org volunteer who will present the packet and say, "For the Honorable Legislator… this is what will be served on Wednesday."  The material that the volunteers are presenting is held in a black folder entitled, "To Serve Massachusetts" on which are attached photos of Kris Mineau, the Director of the Massachusetts Family Institute (the proponent of the anti-gay marriage petition) and Serling's original and menacing alien, renamed by KnowThyNeighbor.org as a "Discriminit."

The bulk of the material is the three-paged, humorous and dark narration adapted by Tom Lang, co-director of KnowThyNeighbor.org.  This traces the path of "Michael Gaymen" an unfortunate victim who finds himself, as in the original Serling story, being misled by alien visitors who claim to be helping mankind but instead intend to serve man as an item on a menu.  Lang's adaptation has the main character, Gaymen, addressing the audience with "This is the way nightmares begin..." and takes us through alien promises of curing such problems as "job loss, high property taxes, and un-affordable healthcare" in exchange for ending same-sex marriage.  There are references to Mitt Romney, Church involvement, a planet to which people will be taken known as "Second Class," and the main character’s frightening revelation that "To Serve Massachusetts" is indeed a cookbook. The legislators will read in the finale that "we will ALL be on the menu" as Michael Gaymen went from "being an Equal Citizen in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the ingredient in someone's political soup."

Lang says that he wanted to do something that would "give senators and representatives pause before Wednesday's Constitutional Convention."  Lang continues, "KnowThyNeighbor.org has always been about being creative and pushing the envelope to get people to talk about what is at stake. Though this parody may seem humorous on the surface, I hope it will get a few legislators to think about the serious consequences of a "yes" vote on Wednesday.  Real people will be hurt, real families will be endangered, and Constitutionally enshrined discrimination may be the end product."

View a pdf version of the packet that will be delivered to legislators.

###