Conservative Massachusetts legislators are trying to outlaw gay marriage—again

from TomPaine.com:


Pride Or Peril?
Sarah Tobias and Sean Cahill
June 12, 2007


Sarah Tobias Ph.D. and Sean Cahill Ph.D. are co-authors of Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Families.

It is another glorious June. The days are warmer, longer and lazier. Many of us are already contemplating the familiar rituals of summer—boardwalks, beaches and camp for the kids. Rainbow flags are everywhere, festooning porches and parapets, reminding us that June is also Gay Pride Month. At least on the outside, everything feels festive. But scratch the surface and a special type of danger lurks—one that seems at first glance to target only the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community but which, on closer inspection, threatens everyone who calls the United States their home.

The danger emanates from Massachusetts. In the middle of this Gay Pride Month, Massachusetts legislators will gather for yet another constitutional convention to vote on whether an amendment defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman should be put to the popular vote. Only 50 legislators need to approve the measure in order for it to move forward and be placed on the ballot in November 2008.

Fifty votes could put the basic rights of Massachusetts's same-sex couple families at enormous risk.

Same-sex marriage first became a reality in Massachusetts in May 2004; just six months after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to wed the person of their choice. Ever since then, same-sex couples in the Bay State have been able to take advantage of many rights that married heterosexual couples take for granted.

These include the right to file joint state tax returns, visit a sick partner in hospital, and make medical decisions and funeral arrangements for them. These rights also guarantee children of same-sex couples a legal relationship with both their parents—during their parents' marriage as well as in the event of a breakup. And if their biological parent dies, then children are guaranteed the right to maintain a relationship with their surviving parent—a right that children of same-sex parents living in many parts of the United States currently lack. That same-sex couple families can be torn apart by the state in times of crisis is an acute vulnerability and an enormous injustice. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/12/pride_or_peril.php

that they are really bad legislators also. My rep and sen here are the stupidist around. I want them fired.