March 9, 2004
written by Bob Murch
Dear Legislators,
I have spent the day calling state senators and representatives trying desperately
to talk to someone who can make a difference. I know it’s a busy
time and you have more than just this issue to deal with but to me and my
fiancé Gary, there isn't a bigger issue.
I sat glued to the TV and listened almost nonstop to the last Constitutional
Convention hoping and praying that our elected officials wouldn’t amend
our constitution to take away the RIGHT the Supreme Court of our state clarified
I had. I was shocked and amazed and for the first time ever,
proud to live in Massachusetts. The outcome, though it may be short
lived, was to not put discrimination into the constitution.
As March 11th falls upon us, I urge you consider what you are doing before
you cast your next votes. I have heard most of you say you have thought
long and hard about this issue but for some of you I wonder. While
there are those who where able to separate their personal views from their
job, in the last Constitutional Convention, there were those who weren't. I,
like everyone else in Massachusetts, didn't elect you because I agreed with
everything you said or stood for. You were elected because we the constituents
believed that when faced with a matter of great importance would do the right
thing. Not what would insure your re-election, not what you were raised
to believe, not even what you thought, but rather what was right.
People speak of activist judges as if these judges had any other choice
but to read our state constitution as protecting everyone as equals. As
if interpreting equality as legislating and usurping the your job. Bigotry
and discrimination wear many masks but fear seems to be a favorite. Scare
the legislators that the judicial branch is steeling their jobs, scare the
straight couples that their marriage means less now that gay couples can
marry, and scare gays back into the closet where they belong. How dare
they think they are equal and deserve the same protections as everyone else?
My gay money is good enough to pay taxes, bills, and to contribute to charities. But
unlike my straight friends this amendment will forbid me from paying for
a marriage license.
I am gay and live my life every day with intolerance. Some of you
say I choose to be gay and therefore I get what I deserve. I hear slurs,
ignorant comments, and catch nasty glances as if because who I choose to
love makes me any less of a person. Who would choose a life of a minority? Do
you think my mother or father WANTED this for me? But, don’t
think this is what I am asking you to fix. I am not a naive person
and know very well that you can't legislate how people feel. You
can't stop those slurs, those ignorant comments, any more than you could
pass a law to stop nasty looks. I am not asking you to change your
personal views about me or any other gay person. I am however asking
you to do the right thing, the responsible thing.
I have been sickened by a sitting president and governor who tell the nation
they believes passing a constitutional amendment will protect the institution
of marriage. A president and governor who have forgotten that it isn't
an institution they were elected to protect but me, a citizen of this great
country. A president and governor who have decided to use my rights
as a human being to further their political agendas and hurt others like
me. I have also been heartened by your actions by not voting to amend
our constitution. With civil rights there are no compromises. The
Supreme Court of the United States ruled that separate but equal was not
good enough for blacks and schools, and yet you sit there considering a compromise,
civil unions, for gays? How quickly we forget what separate but
equal means. It means you are different, we don't like you, and you
should be treated differently. Compromise is defined as "A
settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions." Can
you imagine it's Monday morning rush hour in Massachusetts and as you drive
to work you pass the black school bus and the white school bus? I'm
guessing it might be easier to pass a heterosexual couple on your way to
work and know they are married while the gay couple has a civil union. Ah,
but a rose by any other name... is still discrimination whether you
talk about busses schools or marriage.
I am not saying all or any civil right campaigns are the same but I am saying
the principle is the same. All people are equal whether you like them
or not. This IS protected in our state and federal constitution and
as you ponder whether civil unions are a good compromise, ask yourself this. Why
are you even wondering? If gays can or can’t marry, will they
love each other any less? Will they stop being gay or go back into
the closet? Will amending the constitution fix what you really don't
like? Because guess what? I'll still be gay, still be a human
being, and still be sitting here looking for someone like you to stand up
and make a difference.
Please do what you were elected to do and protect the minorities from the
wrath of the majority.
Bob Murch
Contact Us | Links | © 2005 Civil Marriage | Civil Right
|
