[WestMALocals] Fwd: Court Ducks Marriage Question

Mon Jul 10 12:05:54 EDT 2006

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Owen Broadhurst <owen.broadhurst at gmail.com>
Date: Jul 10, 2006 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: Court Ducks Marriage Question
To: lavender at green-rainbow.org, Discussion List for StateCom members <
statecom-discuss at green-rainbow.org>

 I had urged that GLAD please include in its petition reference to how the
Homphobe Initiative was essentially faith based, and hence an illegal effort
towards imposing only the religious views of particular
politically powerful sects. I believe this would have been a far stronger
argument for GLAD to make.

Unfortunately, we're here now. The SJC has lent its assent to Reilly's
illegal certification of Petition K.

We must now mobilize in strength. The time to secure the defeat of the
Homophobe Initiative is NOW.

I shall be forwarding a list of legislators and their complete contact
information. CALL them. Call also the Speaker of the House and the Senate
President. Ask for the exercise of the same parliamentary maneuvers that
killed this alarming travesty last time around. It doesn't need to come up
for vote.

ACT NOW

Owen R. Broadhurst

On 7/10/06, Lee Swislow, GLAD Executive Director <gladlaw at glad.org> wrote:
>
>    You are receiving this email from Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.
> To no longer receive our emails, click to unsubscribe<http://ui.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=un&m=1101153764278&ea=owen.broadhurst%40gmail.com&se=10081&t=1101349467716&lang=en&reason=F>
> .   [image: header 1]      July 10, 2006        Dear Owen,
>
> GLAD is dismayed by today's SJC decision upholding Attorney General Thomas
> Reilly's certification of the anti-gay ballot measure seeking to make
> marriage for same-sex couples illegal again in Massachusetts [Read GLAD's
> Press Release]<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=esnwywbab.0.7h6xywbab.w6ac5qbab.10081&ts=S0194&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glad.org%2FNews_Room%2Fpress117-07-10-06.html>
> .
> [image: ConCon05]
> GLAD filed *Schulman v. Reilly<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=esnwywbab.0.6h6xywbab.w6ac5qbab.10081&ts=S0194&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glad.org%2Fmarriage%2FSchulman_Decision.pdf>
> * in January 2006 with a strong legal argument – the constitution clearly
> forbids using the ballot initiative process to overturn a court's decision.
> *Moreover, matters of civil rights should never be subject to popular vote
> *.
>
> But we are not surprised. We knew that this case was an uphill battle and
> that courts rarely rule against a sitting attorney general. Your support
> gave us the resources to take this case to court and will be critically
> important as we continue this fight in the courts and in the court of public
> opinion. There is still much work ahead.
>
> Since GLAD's landmark *Goodridge* decision, more than 8,000 same-sex
> couples have married in Massachusetts. All across the state, couples and
> families, gay and straight, are involved in business as usual, taking care
> of each other, and their communities. Despite opponents' challenges through
> countless lawsuits and ballot initiatives, support for marriage equality has
> grown steadily both in the legislature and among the general public.
>
> The Massachusetts constitution – the oldest in our country – is considered
> a model of fairness all around the world. It's never been a vehicle for
> discrimination and it shouldn't be twisted into one now. Justice Greaney, in
> his concurring opinion, wrote that "the only effect of a positive vote [on
> the amendment] would be to make same-sex couples, and their families,
> unequal to everyone else; this is discrimination in its rawest form."
>
> The proposed amendment now goes to the Constitutional Convention on
> Wednesday, July 12, where it will need only 50 votes to send it to a second
> Convention in the 2007-2008 legislature. There, the same 50-vote threshold
> would apply. If approved in both sessions, the question would appear on the
> ballot in November 2008.
>
> In the next two days leading up to the Convention, GLAD will do everything
> we can with our colleagues at MassEquality<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=esnwywbab.0.ww7wywbab.w6ac5qbab.10081&ts=S0194&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.massequality.org>as they work to convince the legislature to do the right thing and defeat
> this mean-spirited amendment. We urge you to do the same! Find out how you
> can get involved<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=esnwywbab.0.zw7wywbab.w6ac5qbab.10081&ts=S0194&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.massequality.org%2Fevents>.
>
>
> We have no doubt that this is a battle we will win. The only question is
> when.
>
> Thank you for your support.
>
> Sincerely,
> [image: Lee's Signature]
> Lee Swislow Executive Director
> ------------------------------
> gladlaw at glad.org
>
> Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is New England's leading legal
> rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual
> orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression. Since 1978,
> through impact litigation and public education, GLAD has worked to create a
> better world for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender individuals and
> people living with HIV.
>
> To learn more about GLAD and be added to our e-mail list, please visit our
> website <http://www.glad.org/Join_Us/mailinglist.php>. To help GLAD fund
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> please make a donation today - visit our Donation Page at
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> supporting GLAD.
>
>
>
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-- 
Owen R. Broadhurst
Candidate for State Representative
Third Hampden District
http://www.owenbroadhurst.org

-- 
Owen R. Broadhurst
Candidate for State Representative
Third Hampden District
http://www.owenbroadhurst.org