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JERRY's
BACK...
and
BACK TO BASICS |
Hi Friends,
Unfortunately
I'm back online with my newsletter; not because I want to but because I
have to. On January 2nd our legislature (under intense
pressure) reconvened to address the amendment to rescind marriage
protections for gay couples.
I was one of
the very few supporters on our side that were actually at the State
House. The turnout of support for our rights was disappointing to
say the least. What made the situation worse was that we were
given hope that the amendment would be defeated procedurally in a
drawn-out and confusing process, but then that hope was suddenly
destroyed when Senate President Travaglini quickly forced a vote before
our advocates could take action. The amendment easily passed its first
hurdle with 62 votes (50 out of 200 were needed).
It really
takes its toll on a person to fight so hard in every way that you
possibly can, then receive such a devastating defeat. I personally,
have not felt this crushed in a very long time, and had to take some
time off from my activism to take care of myself. In the mean
time, while reading my local paper, the Patriot Ledger, I read two
different letters to the editor that called me out by name, attacking my
personal integrity... I owe my spouse Ed and Our friend David for coming
to my defense by writing rebuttal letters, correcting the slanderous
statements against me and then turning the focus around to positive
messages for our cause.
So here I am
again, picking up where I left off.
HERE IS WHERE
WE ARE AT NOW:
The
Legislature has to convene again this year and approve the amendment
one more time before it goes to public ballot in 2008.
Some of our
biggest opponents in the Legislature have now been replaced by
pro-equality representatives/senators but we still need to win over
more votes if we are going to keep our rights/dignity going to public
vote. We need to win over AT LEAST 7-9 votes
We have a
LOT of people now on our side, so the remaining politicians may be
hard to win over as they probrably have personal bias against us, or
are fearful or angry constituents... this is not going to be
easy...
We need
NEW people to be taking action... Those of us (like me in Quincy)
who have legislators still voting against us still need to be
working on these reps/senators, but we new NEW faces and names to
take action in addition to the "same old faces" as they
may perceive.
The South
Shore of Boston is of particular focus as many votes in favor of the
amendment have com from this area. If you have family or
friends on the South Shore of Boston, PLEASE ask them to contact
their legislators... you can even offer to write letters for them
with their names/addresses.
We need to
do the same for Letters to the Patriot Ledger... the main South
Shore Paper that has published AT least as many letters against us
as for us. Many letters that communicate false and misleading
information. PLEASE, offer to write and submit letter FOR your
friends and family in this area to submit.
Please see the story below and how it references my Senator
(Morrissey), the story has resulted in a special focus from our
opposition to flood his email, mail and phone lines with calls to
demand that he continues to support the amendment... WE NEED TO
TAKE ACTION TO! -
PLEASE CONTACT HIS OFFICE AND ASK HIM TO REJECT THE AMENDMENT ON ITS
MERITS. (Click here for his contact information)
NEWS STORY(S)
OF INTEREST:
Optimism on same-sex
amendment (CLICK FOR FULL STORY)
Since the Legislature advanced an anti-gay-marriage amendment last month, pro-gay marriage legislators have grown increasingly convinced that with hard work, they can beat the measure on the merits....
.... Republican Senator Bob Hedlund of Weymouth, a lawmaker with libertarian leanings, also voted for the amendment last time, but says he is torn between conflicting arguments and has been rethinking the issue.
"There are a lot of legislators who are agonizing about it," says Hedlund, who notes he recently spent several hours discussing the matter with a gay voter.
Then there's Senator Michael Morrissey , a Quincy Democrat who voted for the amendment, but tells me that if it makes the ballot, he will vote against the ban. So why his pro amendment vote? Simple: Morrissey thinks his constituents want a public vote. Still, I'd put the eight-term Democrat in the category of persuadable.
Anti-marriage equality letters questioned in local press
A SLEW OF SUSPICIOUS LETTERS SUPPORTING A VOTE ON THE MARRIAGE AMENDMENT ARE REACHING AREA NEWSPAPERS
Worcester Police call for civil rights charges against Cirignano
After an investigation that lasted more than two months Worcester Police are recommending that former Catholic Citizenship executive director Larry Cirignano be charged with both civil rights violations and assault and battery in connection to an alleged altercation at a Dec. 16 rally for VoteOnMarriage.org in Worcester. Cirignano, one of the speakers at the rally in support of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, allegedly shoved Sarah Loy, a counter-protestor who supports same-sex marriage, to the ground (see “When Push Comes To Shove,” Dec. 21, 2006). In the week following the incident Worcester Police spokesperson Kerry Hazelhurst said that the department had filed a criminal complaint with the clerk magistrate’s office to determine if there was probable cause to charge Cirignano with misdemeanor assault and battery, but with the investigation concluded Hazelhurst said the department has decided to push for civil rights charges as well.
EDITORIALS OF
INTEREST:
READER’S VIEW- The right to vote
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