KnowThyNeighbor.org

Massachusetts Allows Rhode Island Same-Sex Couples to Marry Here

The 1913 Law Does Not Apply to Our Rhode Island Neighbors and Attorney General Tom Reilly Will Not Appeal Supreme Court Decision

Today, Friday, Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly ruled that same-sex couples from Rhode Island have the right to marry in Massachusetts, finding that Rhode Island laws do not expressly prohibit gay marriage.

GLAD, The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, represented eight out-of-state couples in challenging the Massachusetts 1913 Law which prohibited out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts.  Our 1913 Law bases its pohibitions on the fact that if a state does not allow same-sex marriage then Massachusetts will not marry couples here.  GLAD represented plaintiff couples from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont as well as New York and Rhode Island.  Our court needed clarification on New York and Rholde Island and today, Rhode Island has been granted permission.

In an interesting twist, Attorney General Tom Reilly who originally argued that since Rhode Island laws' use of gender-specific terms include "bride" and "groom" then its law intended to define marriage as between a man and a woman.  However, today after Judge Connolly's decision, Tom Reilly is quoted as saying that an appeal "would be a waste of time and resources."  And that "this case has always been about respecting the laws of other states."

Well, THANK YOU, Mr. Attorney General.  Thank you GLAD.  And thank you to the plaintiff couples.

And Welcome Rhode Island to join us on our road to Equality.

Tom Lang, Co-Director

***** Latest Update Regarding Mitt Romney *****

October 1st, 2006, The Boston Globe reports that Mitt Romney "all but admitted defeat" in his effort to appeal this Suffolk Superior Court ruling that will allow gay couples from Rhode Island to marry in Massachusetts.  Romney's is quoted, "I have to follow the law.  This is a nation of laws, even if I don't like them."

For the full Boston Globe story see  Romney says he must obey law on marriage for out-of-state gay couples

   

KnowThyNeighbor Kneels in Prayer with Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

Last Sunday, I attended a wedding in Marblehead at St. Michael's Episcopal Church.  My husband and I sat next to an attractive and distinguished couple.  We also, knelt next to this couple during Communion and spoke all the blessings and declarations commonly found in church wedding ceremonies, this being no different.

At the reception, a family member of the groom pointed out that my pew and its four occupants were "all the talk" of the pre-ceremony gossip.  What was it this time?  I had forgotten that I tend to be prone to "Six Degrees of Separation" scenarios and this I would soon find was one of them.  My husband, Alex, and I were sitting next to Caleb III and Bronwyn Loring who are key opponents of equal marriage rights in Massachusetts.  Bronwyn or Bonnie Loring was an one of the thirty "Original Signers" of the petition to define marriage as between a man and a woman, together with her husband being large contributors to VoteOnMarriage.org, is known as a very prolific Letter to the Editor writer in the Salem Evening News whose favorite theme is "gays are too promiscuous to be allowed to marry,"  but also I know of Bonnie from a very personal connection.

An older gay couple that we know quite well rents a house on the Loring estate in Prides Crossing.  They have rented this home for decades from Bonnie's father-in-law and it was at this house that they celebrated their recent marriage after 35 years of being together.  Most of the Lorings were invited including Caleb III and Bonnie.  All attended except them.  Of course, no one would have expected that they would attend, but what came next shocked everyone.  Bonnie did not just return the invitation card with "regrets" checked, Bonnie included a letter which admonished the couple, the marriage, same-sex marriage, and gay marriage in general.  For one born into and married into privilege, this sort of response was, how can I say it?  Oh, I will let my provincial background shine through... "Classless."  Bonnie's father-in-law, Caleb's father, has since entrusted the property in his will, so that this couple, now in their 80's may live out their days together on the property, trumping any action by Bonnie to have them evicted.

So back to Sunday's wedding reception...a considerable number of guests understood the dynamics of the Co-Director of KnowThyNeighbor and his husband being seated next to "an original signer" and her husband and surprisingly were on our side.  I found myself having to keep some guests from approaching the Lorings, though I appreciated the thought, this would not have been respectful to the occasion or the newly married.  I was obliged however to speak to Bonnie and Caleb as that was apparent to all.

This is how it went:

Tom:   "Mr. Loring, I would like to introduce myself, I am Tom Lang and this is my husband Alex Westerhoff..."

Caleb:  " Oh yes, of course Tom, it is good to finally meet you."

Tom:   "I just thought that since we prayed next to each other today, I should at least introduce myself."

Caleb:   "It must be God's plan."

Tom:   "Mrs. Loring, I am Tom Lang, I just needed to introduce myself and tell you that I really do believe in marriage, even straight ones..."

Bonnie:  "I know that you do Tom, we just have to figure out what we are going to call yours." 

Tom: "Well, I just thought it was important for my husband and I to introduce ourselves..."

Bonnie:  "Thank you so much for coming over to introduce yourself."

Caleb:  "Yes, Tom, thank you for doing this."

Uneventful?  Yes.  Did I change their opinions?  More than likely, no.  Was it difficult for me to make the first move?  Even after all that I have done with KTN, yes, I am admittedly still just a little bit afraid.  Was this the correct way to handle the Lorings?  Yes, given the circumstances, this was a wedding reception and civility and respect were the "deux mots du jour."  Was this meeting a success for Equal Rights?  Yes!  Sometimes it is easy to forget that our enemies are not always JUST the most vocal or active participants in the fight against GLBT rights.  Our enemies can be many things, fear, internalized homophobia, complacency expressed by ourselves or our friends, controlled messages by our GLBT leadership which can create a false sense of purpose, societal propriety, herd mentality, the myth that an individual cannot make a change...

KnowThyNeighbor is here and has always been here to help you understand that most of our enemies are harbored within ourselves and they are sometimes the most easily conquered.  My husband and I were the only gay people at that reception, yet we had many people cheering us on, many that we did not even know before that day.  The fact that we were brave enough to confront in a very public way those who would hurt us earned the respect of dozens of people who now have even a better reason to be on our side...  a personal stake in this.

Tom Lang, Co-Director

"Gays in Military" ala Daily Show

Sorry, Brian.  Looks like you have some serious competition for the emmy this year for dumbest sounding bigot in a Daily Show segment.

Aaron Toleos, Director

Governor's Race To Determine Equal Rights in Massachusetts

Thank you and Congratulations to Deval Patrick (Candidate for Governor) and Tim Murray (for Lt. Governor)  

In a welcoming speech that I gave for Deval Patrick at a private fundraiser in August I said,

"I look at Equal Rights along these lines.  I don't consider it as an 'issue' to be discussed BY candidates but as the 'qualifying factor' for any candidate to be worthy of OUR consideration…

The Race for Governor and Lt. Governor in Massachusetts has never been in better shape in terms of the support and understanding of Equal Rights for its GLBT citizens.  The winners of the Democrat Party Primary, Deval Patrick for Governor and Tim Murray for Lt. Governor are BOTH on the side of Equal Rights for GLBT and have provided KnowThyNeighbor with statements against the Ballot Question which would Define Marriage as Soley Between a Man and a Woman.  Christy Mihos, Independent for Governor and Grace Ross, Rainbow/Green for Governor have also declared publicly similar stances.

Kerry Healey, Republican for Governor, still just does not get it.  In an interview in June 2006 Healey spokeswoman, Amy Lambioso, told KnowThyNeighbor,

" Kerry is against same-sex marriage but for civil unions.  She is for the amendment to ban same-sex marriage and would vote for it if it reaches the ballot in 2008.  If elected Governor, Healey will work on civil union legislation."  When asked by KnowThyNeighbor what the language would be in Healey's "civil union" proposal i.e. "civil unions with all the rights of marriage" or "civil unions with rights 'to be determined,'" we were told, "it is premature to ask that as that would not be until 2008."

Don't think that Reed Hillman, who is Healey's and the GOP's choice for Lt. Governor is any better.  When KnowThyNeighbor asked what Hillman's stance was on the subject, the spokeswoman told us, "Reed Hillman believes in everything that Healey does."  When I responded with, "surely there must be something that Hillman would like to add or clarify in a statement, "  I was told, "No, everything that Kerry Healey says is EXACTLY what Hillman says."

Okay...in the terms of Equal Rights I think we can digress to a Sesame Street song that I have edited here with all due respect to our childhood, the Massachusetts electorate and Big Bird...

Healey and Hillman are NOT Like the Others...               

Healey and Hillman just DON'T Belong...

If you can guess why they're bad for Massachusetts...

We will protect our Constitution before I finish this song...

Tom Lang, Co-Director   

Cardinal O'Malley Rewards Those Who Hurt Families and Children

O'Malley's Award Calls Gays Evil

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley shown in the picture to the right holding a tee-shirt with Former Mayor Ray Flynn and Larry Cirignano and which reads, "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing" celebrated Mass at St. John's Seminary on Sept. 6th in appreciation for those who worked with Catholic Citizenship in signature collection to stop same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

O'Malley is quoted in last Friday's Pilot article as saying, "Many people would like to dismiss us as anti-gay, self-righteous, holier-than-thou, but in our belief all we do and say, we must show forth true humility, a spirit of love and a spirit that reflects God and who we are."  The Cardinal is certainly reflecting "who he is" in this photo, however, the smiles and the tee-shirt which refers to gay people who are trying to protect their Equal Rights and couples who only want to protect their families and children as "evil," move as far from "humility" as humanly possible.

Disgusting!  Deplorable!  And all I can say is, "Shame on you Cardinal O'Malley." 

Cardinal Sean O'Malley: 617-782-2544

And the Boston Archiocese' Family Life Office which deals with Marriage can be reached at:  617-746-5800/5801

Tom Lang, Co-Director

Lawsuit Filed Naming Signature Gathering Company that Worked on Massachusetts Anti-Gay Marriage Petition in Fraud Accusations

"Let The People Vote" by whatever means possible, fraud, forgery, mis- information and turning a political "blind eye."  PART ONE

It seems that Massachusetts isn't the only state that experienced massive petition fraud to get a controversial question on the ballot.  A Federal Lawsuit was filed in Detroit in an effort to get the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative off this November's ballot.  The lawsuit represented 125,000 African-American Michigan voters who claimed that they were deceived into signing a petiton to place an anti-affirmative action constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Last Tuesday, Federal Judge Arthur Tarnow ruled against the lawsuit in which its proponents argued that the signature collection and alleged deception and fraud which targeted African-Americans violated the Voting Rights Act.  But here is where the Federal Judge's ruling gets interesting... Judge Tarnow stated that there was no violation of the Voting Rights Act because initiative sponsors had "targeted all Michigan voters for deception without regard to race."   Based on this statement, it is likely that this case will now go befroe the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

So what is the connection to Massachusetts and the VoteOnMarriage.org Initiative Petition to end same-sex marriage?  National Petition Management, the company which has been accused of fraud and deception in Michigan was one of the companies which collected signatures in Massachusetts last Fall.  NPM allegedly used the same tactics that were used to "dupe" Massachusetts voters.  Profiling people in supermarkets, targeting the harried shoppers who would not have time to read the text and, of course, telling people that the petition was "for" the issue when it was in fact "against" it.  Sound familiar?  And in case you forgot, National Petition Management was the company which was collecting signatures to put beer and wine in supermarkets in Massachusetts and whose bait-and-switch tactics prompted its employer, the Massachusetts Food Association to throw out hundreds of petitions early in the collection process.  KnowThyNeighbor.org still is receiving an affidavit every other day from voters who were duped or lied to about the VoteOnMarriage petition to end same sex marriage AND MassEquality found 2000 fraud victims out of a phone sampling of 10,000 whose names appeared on the petition.

No matter what side you are on in the debate on Affirmative Action (btw in Michigan the Ballot Question would end quotas in public colleges), is it right to lie to voters, especially African-American voters when their lives would be affected in such a direct way?  The name "The Civil Rights Initiative" which is stopping Affirmative Action should have been proof enough of what the voters would be expecting regarding this nasty Conservative-based tactic of getting the question on the ballot by any means possible and letting its political machine do the rest. 

Massachusetts...Don't Forget the Fraud, Forgery and Deception that surrounded the VoteOnMarriage volunteers and hired con-artists which happened here at the expense of the rights and protections of  GLBT individuals, their families and their children.  The Attorney General launched a Civil Investigation during the process, however, state laws put the blame on the signer for not reading the petition wording.  But there is still a Criminal Investigation on-going which is addressing the alleged forgery by the VoteOnMarriage workers.  Like in Michigan, the fraud associated with and the raping of a valuable Democratic Process existed.  Make No Mistake About It.

***Check Out This Important Link To National Petition Management Projects ***