Assigning the Reverend Richard Richardson of The Black Ministerial Alliance as Co-
Chair Says One Thing, "It is Okay to To Actively Discriminate Against LGBT people and their families"
This has been the most difficult blog post for me to write since we started KnowThyNeighbor. As you know, Governor Elect Deval Patrick established a "Transition Team" back in November. Part of this team's responsibility was to develop "working groups" which would go out to the Commonwealth to collect testimony from activists, community leaders, philanthropists and average people about how they feel the Patrick/Murray Administration can best govern Massachusetts.
If you worked at all on the Deval Patrick Campaign or were ever contacted by the campaign you probably received an email asking you to actually attend one of these working group meetings and to provide your comments. As you can imagine, I received many requests to speak both as automated and personal emails.
This photo on this post is of the Reverend Richard Richardson, taken at Monday's meeting in Lawrence. Rev. Richardson is the Co-Chair of Deval Patrick's Human Services Working Group. Richardson has a large resume. He is The President and CEO of Children's Services of Roxbury. But he also holds some positions worthy of more than a small note in BayWindows. Reverend Richardson testified before a Congressional Committee in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Richardson is a Board Member of the Black Ministerial Alliance which had taken a strong stand against same-sex marriage back in 2004 justifying its position by stating social issues like "fatherlessness in the Black community" and joined VoteOnMarriage in sponsoring the initiative petition to end same sex marriage.
Reverend Richardson is also an Advisory Board Member for the Alliance For Marriage which is in the forefront of pushing the Federal Marriage Amendment through Congress. Locally, Richardson is one of the thirty original signers of VoteOnMarriage's Initiative Petition To Define Marriage and is one of the ten plaintiffs in Mitt Romney's most recent lawsuit to place the initiative petition directly on the ballot. (see brief)
I have a few important questions. Why did Deval Patrick, "The Hero of Equal Rights and the LGBT Community" allow Reverend Richardson's appointment as Co-Chair of the Human Services Working Group? Lets' just say that I have made a week's worth of phone calls to Deval's people and have not been given the courtesy of one phone call back until today. It is funny but all of my contacts within Deval's offices seem not to want to return any calls. These were the same people that back when I contributed a sizeable donation, hosted a $ 10,000 house party and helped chair another $ 200,000 event were in "constant" contact with me. The young lady who returned a call was Anne Roach. She told me that she understands my disappointment and told me that the working groups term expires tomorrow. As if that is some sort of consolation to us for Deval having appointed such a flagrant bigot to this position. This speaks volumes to Deval's character and how his new administration might operate.
That being said...Why have not the LGBT Groups and Leadership in Our Community made a big deal out of this? I admit that I was very late in posting this as I was not aware of the appointment weeks ago. I will admit and own that I did not vett Deval's transition team members because I didn't think I had to. And I sat on this post for a week while I gave Deval's people and Press Office time to call me with some explanation that would put all things right. But that never happened. Because there is no excuse.
I cannot of good conscience give Deval Patrick a pass on this one and neither should any of us. I am the one who will call School Boards when I find out that a committee member has taken a very public stand against our equal rights and I make sure that these schools have policies in place that will protect the students and their families against any sort of discrimination. I even went so far as to call the Boys and Girls Club of Boston because one of its Board Members and neighbor of mine contributed $ 5000 to VoteOnMarriage and I was concerned that the Club's policies may be affected by this person. So you can imagine that I am duely sickened that Deval rewarded Richardson with a place in his transition team albeit for a month.
I never thought that I would say this because I was such a supporter of the Governor Elect, but we need to watch Deval Patrick in every step he makes, every appointment he makes, and especially in the people that he keeps close to him in his new administration.
Very disappointed,
Tom Lang, Director