Petition signer was misled

Letter to the Editor, Ipswich Chronicle | January 19, 2006

Thursday, January 19, 2006 Last week my son told me that he’d just seen a list of those who’d signed the anti-gay marriage petition — Petition #05-02, the Constitutional Amendment to Define Marriage — on an Internet Web site: http://knowthyneighbor.org/

He said that my name was on the list of those who want an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and by such wording, would specifically exclude gay couples from marrying.

I was surprised that my name was on the list. My daughter and her girlfriend, of 22 years, married in June of 2004. My family is 100 percent pro gay marriage.

I do recall signing a petition that someone told me was for gay marriage. I must assume that the individual collecting the signatures was misrepresenting the purpose of the petition and was doing so intentionally.

The Web site states that thousands of signers may have been duped into signing, as I was. They list three methods that signature collectors have used to get signatures.

Scenario 1 — Citizens were told they were signing the wine petition when the anti-gay marriage petition was actually presented.

Scenario 2 — Citizens were first asked to sign the wine petition and then asked to sign again on a second page. The second page was actually the anti-gay marriage petition.

Scenario 3 — Citizens were told they were signing a petition to protect gay marriage when it was actually the anti-gay marriage petition.

I urge those who, like I did, may have signed a petition, purportedly in favor of gay marriage, or thought that they were signing the wine petition, to visit the Web site, use the town search to locate your town, then check to see if your name is listed.

If you find that your name was placed on the petition fraudulently, or if you wish to have your name removed from the petition, you can click on the link for the affidavit form, fill it out and fax or mail it to the address given on the Web site.

If you don’t have Internet access, you can write to Know Thy Neighbor.org to request the Fraud Affidavit Form. The address is: Know They Neighbor.org, Inc., PO Box 0395, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA 01944.

Immie Thayer
Mill Road
Ipswich

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