The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
I'm so glad that frequent guest poster Rev. Irene Monroe shared this experience with us here on the Blend. The photo of Mayor Denise Simmons and her spouse Ms. Mattie Hayes is by Gloria Kinkard, the mayor's first cousin.
A Black priest and her church marries a lesbian mayor Rev. Irene Monroe
Since the liberal arm of the U.S. Episcopal Church passed a resolution in July to bless same-sex unions, particularly in states like Massachusetts that legalize such marriages, so too has, at least, one black congregation within the Massachusetts diocese. On August 30th St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Cambridge housed the marriage and blessed the union of its mayor, E. Denise Simmons and, her lifetime partner, Ms. Mattie Hayes.
And the historic event happened because of the fierce determination of a straight ally to Cambridge's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the church's new Priest-in-Charge, The Reverend Leslie K. Sterling, who is also the first African-American female priest at St. Barts. Having just arrived at St. Barts in February, Sterling brings a new vision to a church that has served both the African-American and African-Carribean community for over 100 years.
When I went to meet with Sterling to discuss our roles as officiates in the mayor's nuptials I asked her if she were ready to jump into in this conflagration that has the Episcopal Church at the brink of schism.
"Some will leave I know, but those who oppose and stay, at least, we can talk about it in a spirited conversation," Sterling said.
Cambridge, like many of its residents, revels in its image as a bastion of liberalism. And it's a city of many firsts, like both E. Denise Simmons and Kenneth Reeves being the first African American openly queer mayors of a major U.S. city.
But underneath Cambridge's liberal facade, that cannot be closeted, is a rampant racist element like the racial profiling that went global in the July arrest of Harvard professor Henry "Skip" Louis Gates by a white cop, and its toxically homophobic black congregations in both liberal white denominations and the historical black ones that contribute to its communities being under both spiritual and sexual siege. For example, Reeves who was once a longtime worshipper at the historic African-American St. Paul's A.M.E in Cambridge left St. Paul's after May 2004, when Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage, when the church made it clear it would neither bless same-sex unions nor marry its queer parishioners.
Mayor Simmons, a native Cantabridgian, who presides over a diverse demographic consisting of people from various racial, cultural, economic and sexual orientations had only one church she could go to with the hopes of not being turned down.
"I am cognizant of the deeper societal implications of this marriage...[St. Bartholomew] might be the very first mainstream African American church to hold a same-gender wedding," Simmons told Cambridge Chronicle.
In preparing her parishioners for their leap of faith Sterling wrote in a letter to them stating the following:
"I am aware of all the Bible verses conservatives cite in opposition to homosexuality, and I am also aware that there is more than one way to look at each one of those verses. If we believe that the Spirit continues to guide the church in the interpretation of scripture, as was done with respect to slavery and the status of women, then we have to consider the possibility that the Spirit is speaking today, as the hearts and minds of so many people at so many levels of Bible scholarship no longer read those verses as a blanket condemnation of same-sex relationships, or as a reason to deny committed, faithful couples a blessing on their marriage."
To be in full compliance with the canons of the Episcopal Church which would avoid Sterling confronting ecclesiastical probation or being defrocked, the wedding liturgy was divided among three officiates-The Rev. Sterling, Jada D. Simmons, the mayor's oldest daughter and Justice of the Peace, and me.
I was elated to be a part of this liturgical assembly line helping to make a historic event happened within the ecclesial strictures of the church. Sterling did the invocation, declaration of consent to marry, and blessing of the marriage; Simmons pronounced the marriage, and I did the homily, blessing of rings and vows.
At the end of the wedding service when Simmons and Hayes walked down the aisle as a married couple to the church clapping and the choir singing the gospel tune "Oh Happy Day" I turned to Sterling and asked what she thought about the service.
"I'm feeling the history of the moment and what it must have been when black folks were able to marry."
Historically, as African Americans we have always focused on spiritual content of family and not physical composition of it.
Hayes spoke to me about the spiritual content of her family when she said, "Of course to have my marriage, my wedding to be in an historic event is phenomenal. But the bottom line is as wonderful as all that is, I have married the woman I love, Denise Simmons."
These multiple family structures, which we have had to devise as models of resistance and liberation, have always, by example, shown the rest of society what really constitutes family. For example, a grandmother raising her grandchild like or a lesbian couple raising their children like in the Simmons - Hayes household that is now legal by the state and blessed by the church.
Alvin got it so right the other day when he highlighted the disingenuous nature of the way bigots fight. And here from Massachusetts is a recent case in point. It would be comical if the ramifications of their actions weren't so harmful. The Coalition for Marriage and Family* (CMF), which uses the scare tactic of "there'll be sex predators in your daughter's bathroom!!!" to fight the Trans rights bill (H 1728), is urging their militant minions in a 9/4/09 email to pester Massachusetts lawmakers with an AP story about a kid who is trying to make a difference and has inadvertently called their bluff.
Summer is winding down and our legislators will return to Beacon Hill next week, where committees could take action on a number of bills-including the Bathroom Bill (H. 1728).
Now news out of the state of Vermont reveals a push is on there to force high schools to create genderless bathrooms-regardless of the cost to cities and towns. Vermont advocates of same-sex marriage cite this as an "opportunity to again be the first in the nation," as they were with the creation of civil unions. Read the Associated Press report on this here.
Yes, do please read the article. It is a heart-rending story about a trans high school student that has the unmitigated nerve to propose policy change in his state to improve the safety and learning atmosphere for other children. Why do we force kids to take civics classes? Certainly not to make them think they should ever exercise the principles of democracy in their own hamlet? Good god, what is the world coming to! Youth these days, I tell you...
Now where was I. Oh yes. This kid made a suggestion to the Civil Rights Commission that solves the "sex predator!!!" fake problem that is CMF's main rallying cry.
A transgender teenager is lending his voice to a movement in Vermont to require the state's middle and high schools to offer genderless bathrooms. ... Gender-neutral bathrooms can be as simple as what are now considered handicapped accessible bathrooms that are in a single room, he said.
What, problem solved? Can't have that! If the "sex predators!!!" scare tactic is successfully neutralized, CMF will be forced to scratch for another publicly acceptable way of not having to state their basic thesis, which is of course: "but we just hate queers so we don't want them to have any rights."
*The new title adopted by the Mass. Family Institute when the old one got too embarrassing due the mammoth failure of not stopping marriage equality.
Marriage equality became the law of the land in Massachusetts in 2004. We've all heard the naysayers predict the resulting destruction of marriage, the family, the universe, etc. etc.
"[Marriage equality] is a social weapon of mass destruction," said Rev. Lou Sheldon. ... "It would destroy civilization as we know it," Sheldon said.
Well, a new CDC report shows that the divorce rate in Massachusetts, the state were it all started, well, I'll let Rachel give you the good news:
Oh but first, a warning. If you're an anti-equality bigot, this may hurt. You may want to plug your ears.
Five years ago, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. And despite all the dire warnings, the sky did not fall down on the day a man was allowed to marry a man and a woman was allowed to marry a woman in the bay state.
In fact, the institution of marriage is alive and well and thriving in Massachusetts. New provisional government statistics show that, in 2008, Massachusetts had the lowest divorce rate in the country. Ta-da!
The rate of divorces in Massachusetts was 2.2 per thousand when gay people started getting married in Massachusetts. The rate of divorces per thousand is now down even further to 2.0 per thousand. That's the lowest divorce rate in the country. In fact, Massachusetts divorce rates are now down to pre World War 2 levels. 1940.
So, awkwardly, turns out gay marriage is a defense of marriage act.
It is a rainy day in Boston; buses have been bringing in politicians, celebrities, family and friends to Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Basilica. Earlier they gathered at the JFK Library one last time:
In the drumbeat of constant of rain, the family of Senator Edward M. Kennedy joined at least 80 current and former members of Congress for brief prayer service this morning at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.
In small groups, they walked under black umbrellas and into the library, where the senator's body remains in repose in a flag-draped casket. The senator's wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, stood near husband's body, greeting, hugging, and shaking hands.
The mourner took seats around the senator's casket, the dreary rain visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Dorchester Bay. A few of the people visible in the crowd: Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa; Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri; Former Senator John Warner, Republican of Virginia; Senator Roland W. Burris, Democrat of Illinois; Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York; Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky; and many, many more.
The hearse is still parked outside the library. The casket is now coming out of the JFK library and being loaded in by an honor guard.
Security is incredibly tight; everyone is getting the wand sweep- even Yo-Yo Ma and his equipment were thoroughly examined. He and 4 others are currently playing, as people slowly come in.
Eight buses of Congressional members and others were just dropped off outside the Basilica; all of those people are now waiting in the cold rain under a sea of umbrellas, waiting to be swept by security.
Today there will be a private family mass at noon for Senator Kennedy, followed by the motorcade procession (1-4 pm) as his body is taken to Boston. The motorcade will make stops at various stops with special meaning to the late senator.
From 6-11pm tonight, Kennedy will lie in repose at the JFK Library in Dorchester and again Friday, open to the public from 8am to 3pm.
On Friday night, from 7 to 9 pm, there will be a "Celebration of Life Memorial Service" at the JFK library, which will be closed to the public. Media will be covering the event.
On Saturday morning (10:30am), Kennedy's funeral mass will take place at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston.
By 5 p.m. Saturday, Kennedy will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, next to his brothers.
I'm hoping we can have an open thread Saturday to act as an online wake for Teddy; so far it appears others are receptive to the idea. It just feels like the right thing to do.
NECN- New England's version of CNN has been giving wonderful coverage with many interviews btw, including discussion locally regarding a successor for the late senator.
This was an issue that greatly concerned Kennedy in his final weeks. As it stands currently, under Massachusetts law a special election must be held and that could be a very time-consuming process. But efforts may be underway soon to change the existing law.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday he would support changing state law to allow him to appoint an interim successor to Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat while a special election is held.
Unlike most states, a successor to a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts is chosen by special election, not appointed by the governor.
In a recent letter to lawmakers, Kennedy, who died Tuesday night, said the law should be changed to allow the governor to appoint someone to serve in the Senate during the course of the election - provided that person pledge not to run for the seat.
Although Massachusetts is dominated by Democrats, a change in the law isn't a sure thing.
Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, both Democrats, issued statements of condolence early Wednesday, but neither has expressed support for giving the governor the power to name an interim successor. Republicans in both chambers, who hold about 10 percent of legislative seats in Massachusetts, oppose the idea.
Without the change, Senate Democrats could potentially fall one vote short on any health care overhaul legislation, were such a bill brought up before the special election. Health care had been Kennedy's core issue for decades.
The breakdown of the MA legislature is this (h/t Charlie, for looking it up via Wiki):
House: 143 Dem/ 16 Rep
Senate: 35 Dem, 5 Rep
So we will see what Massachusetts ultimately decides to do and who eventually replaces Senator Kennedy...
UPDATE2: Hearing underway! GLAD's twitter coverage here.
UPDATE: Watch videos of MTPC's pre-hearing presser from this morning here. Follow GLAD's twitter cover of the proceedings here.In advance of Tuesday's legislative hearings on "An Act Relative To Gender-Based Discrimination And Hate Crimes" (H. 1728/S. 1687), MassNOW, Jane Doe, MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence, MA Soc. for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and others held a press conference at the State House in Boston. The video is below the fold.
It is incredibly heartening to see not just LGBT organizations, but women's organizations standing up for the rights of and embracing all women.
Reminder: if you live in MA, it's not too late to call your state legislators and tell them why it is vital that they support H. 1728/S. 1687! The judiciary committee hearing is on Tuesday, July 14th at 2:30 pm at the State House in Boston. If you want to testify, it is advisable to arrive an hour or two early to sign up.
Update: Anyone feeling lazy about acting in support of this bill, a reminder of how dedicated the opposition is rests below the fold.Your help is needed now to pass transgender non-discrimination legislation in Massachusetts. Our friends at GLAD explain how you can help.
Next Tuesday, July 14, "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" (H. 1728/S. 1687) will be heard by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
This bill will explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.
Please join us at the State House in Boston next Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. as we stand together with parents, employees, victims of violence and allies in the passing of this bill and the right for all Massachusetts citizens to work, go to school and live without fear. If you have not already done so, contact your legislators today and share your own story about why you support this bill.
A large show of support at the hearing on Tuesday will demonstrate to legislators that Massachusetts is ready to join the twelve other U.S. states, including Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont, that protect all citizens equally under the law.
Update: H/T to Law Dork who provides a link to the complaint and has a summary of the AG's press conference. Highlights and reactions from various organizations at bottom of post.In a case led by Attorney General Martha Coakley, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is suing the US federal government, calling Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The case is called Commonwealth v. United States Department of Health and Human Services
Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage, has become the first to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, saying Congress intruded into a matter that should be left to individual states.
"In enacting DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act], Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people," the state said in a lawsuit filed today in US District Court in Massachusetts.
The suit said that more than 16,000 same-sex couples have married in Massachusetts since gay marriage became legal in the state in 2004 "and the security and stability of families has been strengthened in important ways throughout the state."
"Despite these developments, same-sex couples in Massachusetts are still denied essential rights and protections because the federal Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] interferes with the Commonwealth's authority to define and regulate marriage," the lawsuit said.
Eleven-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover did not have to die. He wrapped an extension cord around his neck and hanged himself, leaving this earth because of months of anti-gay taunts by his classmates at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, MA. The Advocate's William McGuinness interviewed his mother, Sirdeaner Walker. This story is almost too painful for words.
Sirdeaner Walker, who has survived domestic violence, homelessness, and breast cancer, knew death could come suddenly -- but she could not have predicted it would find her 11-year-old son first.
On April 6, Sirdeaner Walker came home, walked up the stairs to the second floor of her home, and saw her son suspended from a support beam in the stairwell, swaying slightly in the air, an extension cord wrapped around his neck, according to police. He apologized in a suicide note, told his mother that he loved her, and left his video games to his brother.
Walker said her son had been the victim of bullying since the beginning of the school year, and that she had been calling the school since September, complaining that her son was mercilessly teased. He played football, baseball, and was a boy scout, but a group of classmates called him gay and teased him about the way he dressed. They ridiculed him for going to church with his mother and for volunteering locally.
"It's not just a gay issue," Walker said. "It's bigger. He was 11 years old, and he wasn't aware of his sexuality. These homophobic people attach derogatory terms to a child who's 11 years old, who goes to church, school, and the library, and he becomes confused. He thinks, Maybe I'm like this. Maybe I'm not. What do I do?"
His birthday, April 17, falls this year on the 13th National Day of Silence, a day on which individuals observe vows of silence for students bullied at school.
I want to ask a question -- why do these purportedly "Christian" organizations oppose the Day of Silence? Little Carl is what this day is about. How can these homophobes sleep at night knowing this little boy -- and so many others like him -- was so tormented by others in his school that the only way out was to kill himself? That school officials didn't do anything to stop the bullying, essentially blaming the victim "student immaturity," that Carl should just "buck up" and take it, and ignoring his fear that naming those who tortured him would label him a snitch.
This was considered "a solution" by the school.
Hilda Clarice Graham, an expert on bullies and a school safety consultant with International Training Associates, said students often use assumed sexual orientation as a main weapon against one another. "It's the hammer that hurts the most and is the most vulnerable and hurtful thing going," she said.
...Days prior to Carl Walker-Hoover's suicide, he confronted a female bully who verbally accosted him. The event served as an apparent catalyst to Walker's suicide. The school's response was to have the two students sit beside one another during lunch for the next week to encourage conversation.
Good god. How on earth did any adult think this was the answer to the problem? Where is common sense?
Graham says the school's response is not ideal because "for mediation to work, there must be equal power." She said bullies' goals are to hurt, and to depend on them to feel remorseful is not an effectual way to deal with them -- that victims are at a disadvantage when trying to make peace alone.
On Friday, thousands of students will participate in the 13th annual National Day of Silence, and who knows how many fundie parents will choose to make their kids stay home so that they cannot be exposed to a silent call for tolerance. What are these people teaching their kids -- that bullying is OK? That even children who don't identify as gay, like Carl, have to go day after day to a learning environment that foments torment and emotional baiting of students based on homophobia? What is wrong with these people?
Just got an email from MassEquality with some great news. An Act Relative to Gender Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes has more original co-sponsors than any other bill introduced this session of the legislature!
If your legislator is a co-sponsor, contact them today and thank them. If your legislator isn't a co-sponsor, let them know you want them to vote for the bill. To find out who your legislators are, click HERE.
More info can be found in the MassEquality email, below the fold.
The hate group that failed to strip LGBT people of the right to marry in MA is using a Prop 8 celebration to raise funds to fight the Transgender Rights Bill. The bill was introduced early in the 2007/2008 legislative session and had a lot of support, including the support of Governor Deval Patrick, but was allowed to die in committee. The bill will be reintroduced in the 2009/2010 session.
Let's beat them at their own game! Please consider making an ofsetting donation to the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, MassEquality or another Trans-positive organization of your choice. And if you need some extra nudging, read the "christian" haters' Call to Action after the flip. It's simply delightful!
UPDATE: Just got another email from another H8 Coalition org in MA. Interesting to see how they reworked the text. Here is the most interesting edit.
Even in liberal California, where another set of activist judges thrust homosexual unions on an unwilling public, fifty-two percent of voters voted in favor of that states marriage protection amendment called Proposition 8.
The passage of Prop 8 was a critical win for family values. While radical homosexuals show their true intolerance across the country with violent, disruptive and hateful protests, we want to show our support for those who stood up for marriage.
Brian Camenker (aka MassResistance) thumbed his nose at the milquetoast haters of Mass Family Institute, and tilted at the windmill of a referendum petition drive to repeal the repeal of "the 1913 laws" that previously prevented gay out-of-staters from marrying in MA. Did ya get all that? ;) Brian described the effort in these heroic terms.
This was a fight about principle - against overwhelming opposition and suppression from all sides.
He failed.
Brian's Silver Lining, the play by play, and the perennial fundraising plea after the fold. Emphasis added for my amusement.
I forgot to post this hilarity up -- the fundies at MASSResistance provided unique coverage of the Massachusetts House repeal of the "1913 law" last week that enables same-sex couples from other states to travel to the Bay State to marry.
Poor head of MassResistance Brian Camenker -- he was probably frothing at the mouth while he was typing this.
Yesterday afternoon, despite widespread internal dissention and overwhelming negative outpouring from the public, the House leadership kept their promises to the homosexual lobby and forced a vote to repeal the "1913 Law".
Blenders up there in Massachusetts -- was there "overwhelming negative outpouring" anywhere in sight over this?
The leadership of both houses had publicly promised the homosexual lobby to repeal this before the end of the session, July 31. But after the Senate passed it with a cowardly voice vote on July 15, public outrage erupted. It's generally agreed that outpouring against the bill came in at a 6-1 ratio. Newspaper reports indicated that lot of reps were very uncomfortable (we promised to remember their vote this November).
Nothing like watching the bouquet of cold hard cash getting tossed to someone else to make voters regret passing their nasty "not in our neighborhood" anti-marriage amendment.
Nevada, wedding capitol of the world, is starting to see the light. (Emphasis added)
A recent study by academics at [UCLA's School of Law's Williams Institute] estimates [that California] could see nearly $700 million pour in over the next three years as a result of having legalized gay unions...That could mean $63 million in revenue for local governments, through taxes and fees...
"Obviously," said Brad Sears, co-author of the study and the institute's director, "the big windfall comes for the first states to do it."
All that luscious cash! Oh, but none of it or you, NV, by your own rules.
So if you're gay [visiting or living in NV] and you want to get legally married, you go to California. Or Massachusetts. Or Canada.
So what is this costing NV? UCLA researcher Sears "crunched a few numbers". His conclusions are below the fold.
UPDATE: Governor Patrick has signed the bill. All may now wed in Massachusetts. (thx for the heads up, Louise!) (Picture caption: Gov. Patrick, flanked by (left) Sen. Dianne Wilkerson and (right) House Speaker Sal DiMasi, signs the 1913 law repeal bill and the MassHealth Equality bill. (Source:Marilyn Humphries)) .
Great news! Wednesday, the MA legislature added an "emergency preamble" to the 1913 repeal law. This means that the repeal will go into effect and people can start marrying in MA as soon as the governor signs the bill. Normally, there would be a 90 day wait for the repeal (or any new law) to go into effect. Governor Patrick will be signing the repeal in no more than 9 days. Word is it he may do so as early as tomorrow (Thursday). :D
Gays who live in states other than Massachusetts will be allowed to marry here immediately rather than waiting for 90 days under a technical change made by the House.
A day after members voted to repeal a 1913 law that blocked such marriages, the House today gave final approval to the bill and attached an emergency preamble to let it take effect as soon as it is signed by the governor.
NOTE FROM PAM: Check out this paranoid quote from Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, who said
it's part of a national initiative by gay activists and their political allies to advance homosexual "marriage."
"With the protective barrier removed, out-of-state, same-sex couples who 'marry' here will sue to seek recognition in their home states ... further eroding the people's right to define marriage," he said. This is "doing terrible harm to marriage laws across the country."
As soon as Deval Patrick signs this baby, same-sex couples from out of state will be able to marry in the Bay State. (Bay Windows):
The bill to repeal the 1913 law is on its way to Governor Deval Patrick, who will sign it into law. The bill cleared a final hurdle this afternoon, when the House of Representatives passed the bill on a roll call vote after about 25 minutes of debate. The vote was 118-35, with five members not voting.
The Senate passed the repeal bill on a voice vote with no fanfare or dissent on July 15.
Oh, and check out this w-e-a-k defense by a Republican:
Republican Mary Rogeness spoke against the repeal, stating her concern that underage couples who were not allowed to marry in their home state might come here to get married if the law is repealed. Republican Vinny DeMacedo and Democrat John Leper also spoke against the repeal.
In a voice vote the Massachusetts state Senate passed a bill to repeal an antiquated state law that has blocked most same-sex couples from out of state from marrying in Massachusetts.
There was brief debate about the bill to repeal the statute, known as the 1913 law, after the year in which it was passed.
The 1913 law prohibits out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would be considered void in their home state. The origins of the bill are in question, but advocates and legal scholars have argued that it was passed at least in part to prevent interracial couples from marrying in Massachusetts to skirt their home state's anti-miscegenation laws.
...Currently couples from California, Rhode Island, and New Mexico may marry in Massachusetts.
Gov. Deval Patrick will sign the repeal bill if it reaches his desk. The anti-gay version of Mitt Romney warned that Massachusetts would become "the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage."
The Massachusetts legislature is expected in the next few days to vote on a bill that would repeal the famous "1913 Laws". This is the set of laws that prevents most out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in MA. With marriage being open to all comers in CA, in-staters or out-of-staters, it would seem that MA has no remaining reason other than sheer bigotry to retain the laws. Laws which, incidently, were originally enacted to prevent mixed-race couples from out of state coming to MA to get hitched.
Time to shed this ugly relic of the segregation era! Bay Staters, contact your legislators immediately and tell them to vote to repeal the 1913 laws. The vote is expected to be close, so your legislators really need to hear from you, and now. Benefits to the Commonwealth of repealing the laws include:
increased wedding tourism dollars
shedding the ugly legacy of segregation and replacing it with a celebration of Love & Commitment.
What a model for families to see -- full public acceptance, support and love for a relative -- and they happen to be the First Family of Massachusetts. Note to fundies - it doesn't result in the earth opening up and swallowing Boston, no matter how much garbage the homo-haters at mAssResistance bleat. Underscore that message for the pious "pro-family" Alan Keyes, who threw his daughter out of the house when she decided to kick the closet door open.
In a ringing celebration, tens of thousands lined Boston's streets for today's annual Gay Pride parade, a festive march that featured Governor Deval Patrick and his 18-year-old daughter Katherine, who this week announced she is a lesbian.
The Patrick family, including First Lady Diane Patrick, drew resounding applause as they marched along Beacon Street past the State House to City Hall.
Patrick, who already enjoyed strong support among gays and lesbians for his strong support for gay marriage, has been hailed as a model of parental acceptance for his unconditional support for his daughter.
..."It proves he not only stands for something publicly, he exemplifies it in his own life," said Lexi LaGuerre, a 30-year-old from Boston who watched the parade on Tremont Street in the South End with her grandmother. "I wouldn't say most parents would react this way, so it's a wonderful thing. Nobody wants their parents not to love them."
"It's fabulous," agreed Wanic Polynice, 35, watching the parade arm-in-arm with his boyfriend, Sebastian Doremus. "It's wonderful to see a father love his daughter like that. It's beautiful."
Kudos to Katherine Patrick and the First Family of Massachusetts! Bay Windows has the story.
On June 14, 2007, the day that lawmakers finally voted down an anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution, Katherine Patrick stood outside the State House and looked up at her father. Gov. Deval Patrick was standing on the front steps, surrounded by a jubilant crowd of hundreds that mobbed the brick sidewalk and spilled halfway across Beacon Street. As they cheered the defeat of the amendment - an effort led by the governor, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Sal DiMasi - Katherine had never before felt more proud of her father.
"Because, of course, he didn't know that I was gay then," the 18-year-old recalls. "So, for someone so publicly to fight for something that doesn't even affect him was just like, 'That's my dad,' you know?" she says with a laugh. "That's all I could think. I was very, very proud to be part of this family, and this state in general."
"It was great. I'm very glad," she adds, looking at her father. "Don't cry, Dad." Patrick's eyes are brimming with tears, prompting some good-natured teasing from his daughter. "He's done some good things," she says with a laugh, patting his arm. "I appreciate it. Want a tissue? Oh, God. He's a crier."
..."As private of an issue as it is, we've sort of had to come to terms with the fact that we are a public family and there you give a part of yourself away," says Katherine. "And we also ... wanted people to know that it's not only something that we accept, but it's something that we're very proud of. It's a great aspect of our lives and there's nothing about it that is shameful or that we would want to hide."
What a shining example of quiet activism. Even though Ms. Patrick is not a high-profile figure with the stature of, say, Anderson Cooper, she realizes the power of what coming out means to so many others out there. We change hearts and minds of those around us by just living openly. PFLAG:
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) today applauded a groundbreaking interview, in Bay Windows newspaper, in which Katherine Patrick, daughter of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, talks openly for the first time about being the lesbian daughter of one of America's most pro-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leaders.
..."All of us at PFLAG congratulate Governor and Mrs. Patrick as they embrace their daughter and celebrate their family's love," said PFLAG national president John R. Cepek, who is the father of a gay son. "The Patricks embody the perfect combination of leadership and love and are role models not only for parents in Massachusetts, but for families across the country. Long before he knew he had a lesbian daughter, Governor Patrick was a leader on LGBT issues. He has set a policy and parental example that every father, and every elected leader, should aspire to follow."
Since the liberal arm of the U.S. Episcopal Church passed a resolution in July to bless same-sex unions, particularly in states like Massachusetts that legalize such marriages, so too has, at least, one black congregation within the Massachusetts diocese. On August 30th St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Cambridge housed the marriage and blessed the union of its mayor, E. Denise Simmons and, her lifetime partner, Ms. Mattie Hayes.
Mayor Simmons, a native Cantabridgian, who presides over a diverse demographic consisting of people from various racial, cultural, economic and sexual orientations had only one church she could go to with the hopes of not being turned down.
Here are the 
Your help is needed now to pass transgender non-discrimination legislation in Massachusetts. Our friends at 
Next Tuesday, July 14, "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" (H. 1728/S. 1687) will be heard by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
In a case led by Attorney General Martha Coakley, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is 
Eleven-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover did not have to die. He wrapped an extension cord around his neck and hanged himself, leaving this earth because of months of anti-gay taunts by his classmates at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, MA. 
I forgot to post this hilarity up -- the fundies at 
