Friday, June 15, 2007
One Significant Step for Equal Rights: One Quantum Leap for Massachusetts’ Historic Role in that Endeavor: No doubt there are people who signed the marriage amendment petition unhappy they won’t get to decide in 2008 who gets to marry whom, but they shouldn’t be unhappy because democracy wasn’t working. In fact it prevailed brilliantly. The bottom line is that getting petition signatures is but one cog in the wheel of changing the state constitution and by no means a guarantee that a petition will get on the ballot for a vote. No matter how you slice it, this amendment would have excluded certain individuals from the same rights and protections enjoyed by others. Our state legislators, whose duty it is to vote on what goes to the ballot, gave it the resounding thumbs down it deserved. The message was clear: civil rights should not be put to popular vote. The deafening roar of cheers that greeted legislators after the adjournment of the Constitutional Convention concurred.
It is heartening that the millions of dollars that would have otherwise been wasted on pitting neighbors, friends, and families against one another as the 2008 ballot approached, may now be used towards the really important stuff like education, the environment, economic competitiveness, affordable housing -- not splitting hairs over the definition of marriage.
A big thank you to Senator X and Representative X who both stood firm from the beginning. Thank you to the founding fathers for the prescience to pockmark the constitution with enough checks and balances to weather the ever-evolving new realities of a society that no one can always predict beforehand. Kudos to the many gay and lesbian families who took the time to share their stories and whose accounts compelled just enough legislators to change their vote and keep discrimination out of the constitution (you can go to http://www.massequality.org/action/share_reading.php to get to know these lovely families too). And finally, good luck to marriages everywhere. We need all of the love and commitment on this planet we can muster!
It is heartening that the millions of dollars that would have otherwise been wasted on pitting neighbors, friends, and families against one another as the 2008 ballot approached, may now be used towards the really important stuff like education, the environment, economic competitiveness, affordable housing -- not splitting hairs over the definition of marriage.
A big thank you to Senator X and Representative X who both stood firm from the beginning. Thank you to the founding fathers for the prescience to pockmark the constitution with enough checks and balances to weather the ever-evolving new realities of a society that no one can always predict beforehand. Kudos to the many gay and lesbian families who took the time to share their stories and whose accounts compelled just enough legislators to change their vote and keep discrimination out of the constitution (you can go to http://www.massequality.org/action/share_reading.php to get to know these lovely families too). And finally, good luck to marriages everywhere. We need all of the love and commitment on this planet we can muster!
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