Only three VoteOnMarriage volunteers turn out for major North Shore strategy meeting.
Yesterday, April 19th, for about five minutes, tensions ran high in the Beverly Farm’s Public Library’s Lecture Hall where the Greater Peabody, Salem, Beverly Marriage & Family Meeting sponsored by VoteOnMarriage was scheduled to take place. Unfortunately for the folks at VOM, the meeting was open to the public because it was held in, yes, a public library. KnowThyNeighbor decided to take advantage of this open forum and contacted certain pro-equality [gay, straight, parents] people who live in the area to come and sit in on the meeting. We were all surprised to see only three VOM people in attendance. Despite Kris Mineau’s suggestion for open dialogue between both sides, the speaker at the meeting denounced us all as classless and tactless for showing up and proclaimed that they were going to move their meeting to a private location. They proceeded to pack up their pamphlets and donuts and stormed out. So much for open dialogue, Kris.
As the small VOM group was leaving the library to go to their “private” location, they begged the librarian for another room to meet in. After she told them that a book group was using that room, they decided to move their “private” location to outside the library and walked in circles around the building, peering into windows, waiting for us to leave. Turns out they didn’t actually have a private meeting point – the lies just don’t stop.
Before the announcement that VOM was leaving, we overheard the speaker mention in passing the other VOM meetings around the area she was speaking at. This is not a one-time occurrence. These meetings are happening almost every night, all over the state.
So what are they going to say about us? That it was because of us they cancelled the meeting? No. Had they more people in attendance, the meeting would have continued as scheduled – such as what happened at the Rockport meeting on April 12th. For a first hand account of this meeting, you can read Tom Lang’s opinion piece in Bay Windows.
Kris, if you are going to claim that there is a groundswell of public support, I suggest keeping your meetings from public locations because it will make clear the fact that your “groundswell” needs Viagra. Three people coming to the CHIEF North Shore meeting held by five presenters is a little ridiculous, especially considering that Beverly Farms is home to the Bigots Extraordinaire, Kerry Healey, Bronwyn Loring, and Tom Shields.
Gregory Kimball, Treasurer, KnowThyNeighbor