Mass. lawmakers hear testimony on proposed gay marriage ban
By Chuch Colbert, In Newsweekly | April 12, 2006
A month before Massachusetts' lawmakers are scheduled to take up gay marriage, advocates and detractors had their say before a joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee.
At issue was a citizen's initiated petition to place a constitutional gay marriage ban on the ballot.
After the hearings, state Senator Robert S. Creedon, Jr. (D-Plymouth), who chairs the committee, said a recommendation, either favorable or unfavorable, was due by Wednesday, April 26, including both majority and minority commentary.
Although the Legislature has debated same-sex marriage before, the proposed ballot measure this time around does not include a civil unions provision. So, the committee report may well be a first reading on the pulse of state lawmakers' attitudes and views, which in some cases has been evolving over the nearly two years of legal gay nuptials.
For six and half hours, organizations and individuals pitched their case to legislators for or against a citizens' proposed amendment to the state Constitution, one that would ban same-sex marriage outright in the Commonwealth in Nov. 2008. But before voters get their say at the ballot, the proposed measure needs to muster 50 votes this year and next in a joint House and Senate session called a Constitutional Convention.
Hundreds of people converged on Beacon Hill for a half-marathon of hearings. There were some of the old faces and voices and new ones. Some of the same previously heard arguments and fresh ideas were presented. Near the end of the hearing, for example, one man raised the rather bizarre specter, reported in the media recently, of a woman marrying a "dolphin" to illustrate his point of the slippery slope of gay marriage. He went on to speculate about the possibility of marriage between human beings and "mosquitoes" and even "inanimate objects."
Still, for the most part, both sides spoke passionately and reasonably, respectfully and civilly, from the heart and mind on an issue that has clearly galvanized political activism and fervor across a wide variety of demographic constituents statewide. As one measure of the voter interest, VoteOnMarriage.org, the umbrella coalition group intent on seeing a up or down vote at the polls, points to the more than 147,000 signatures they collected in support of the ballot question. They needed only 65,825.
For their part, gay marriage detractors argued for best interests of the children, a biological mother and father united in marriage, as the optimal, if not only environment for child rearing and family life. And, same-sex marriage foes repeated their organizational mantra, "Let the people vote." Detractors also pointed to the Bible for a religious justification for a gay marriage ban. They also took aim at the judiciary or "activist judges" for the historic Goodridge decision that ushered in marriage equality two years ago.
Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney said as much in a letter sent to the committee. "In creating a right to same-sex marriage, the court imposed a sweeping change on our society, unsupported by history or precedent, without any attempt to consider the view of the citizens," he wrote. The governor, who did not attend the hearings, also wrote in his testimony that "Every child has the right to expect a mother and a father, and it would be deeply misguided to become indifferent to what constitutes a marriage."
Nonetheless, anti-gay marriage and family theory and rhetoric bumped up against the reality of gay and lesbian couples, now legally wed, and their children.
On one panel Marianne Stravinskas and Liz Page, of Milton, along with their six-year-old daughter Chloe, told their story. To take away gay marriage rights would be "cruel," said an impassioned Page. "We are your best neighbors," she added, "Don't put us in harm's way." For her part Stravinskas told committee members, "We are just like you, busy taking out our trash and mowing the lawn."
Kate Brodoff, daughter of Goodridge plaintiff couples Ellen Wade and Maureen Brodoff, testified about her parents and family. Brodoff told onlookers that the marriage of her mothers "brought us closer together," she said. "Please don't let the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts discriminate against my family," the Newton South High School junior Brodoff said, as her parents watched.
On yet another panel, Concord based novelist Gregory Maguire, author of "Wicked," along with his husband Andy Newman and one of three children, told their stories. Maguire said that when the couple asked the kids about getting married, it was a unanimous yes and they insisted on a wedding cake. All three children had a role in giving the two men away, he said. Afterward, it was a matter of "Let them eat cake," Maguire said.
But not all the testimony from children of gay and lesbian couples was positive. Worcester resident Shari Worthington voiced concerns about sexual ethics and morality. "Gay marriage is simply the first volley in a longer-term war when it comes to making anything goes when it comes to sexuality," she said.
Gay marriage foe Dawn Stefanowicz, a Canadian, offered her perspective. She said her father was homosexual and that she grew up "traumatized" in a household during the '60s and '70s, exposed to her father's "multiple partners" the gay "subculture" and explicit sexual practices, which Stefanowicz termed "experimental sex." She cited as examples gay "bath houses" and "nude beaches."
But Salem resident and state Rep. John D. Keenan (D-Salem), and Rep. Michael A. Costello (D-Newburyport) voiced doubt about Stefanowicz's concern for the best interest of the children. Costello, for instance, said he "never saw a child abused by a homosexual couple." And, Costello added that to imply that all gay men have "illicit" sex and abuse children is the wrong message to send, he said.
Both representatives pressed Stefanowicz on the matter of gay adoptions. Are the children better off in adoptive homes with same-sex couples or with the Department of Social Services, they asked? Apparently unfamiliar with state agencies and practices, Stefanowicz did not respond directly.
Joining Stefanowicz on the same panel was another Canadian, Louis DeSerres, of Quebec, who also spoke about the best interests of the children. Pointing to both French and Canadian examples, DeSerres said that same-sex marriage "violates the rights of children." Written testimony submitted by DeSerres, as well as Web site literature from a Canadian anti-gay marriage organization (www.preservemarriage.ca) makes the point that while "France rejects same-sex marriage for the children's sake, Canada ignores children to satisfy an adult minority."
Both sides presented testimony from the social sciences research and professionals in the child welfare, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, and social work, all to advance their case.
But gay marriage proponents seemed to hold the better hand with the testimony and credible scientific evidence from the professionals who spoke. Carole E. Allen, M.D., for example, told committee members and the crowd an anti-gay marriage ban would "harm children living in families with same-sex parents by putting their personal, legal, and financial security at risk, undermining the fabric of their families and jeopardizing their healthy social and emotional development." Allen serves as the chair of the legislative committee of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, which supports same-sex marriage and families.
The Academy also submitted a one-page outline, highlighting the findings and research literature regarding the well-being of children raised by gay parents. The AAP also published a 2002 report that summarized three decades of such research. Accordingly, the AAP adopted a formal policy which stated that "children who grow up with 'gay or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual'."
Testimony from faith-based perspectives were also presented. The Rev. Anne C. Fowler, chairwoman of the board of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Mary, said while the 600+ clergy members "do not force our religious convictions on anyone, to allow this ballot initiative, with the threat of its passage, would impose the religious beliefs of some upon all of us, grievously restrict the civil rights of our gay and lesbian citizens, and damage civil discourse in the Commonwealth," she said.
Clergy members from a variety of Protestant denominations, Reform Judaism, and the Unitarian Universalists lined up behind Fowler in advocacy for civil marriage rights for gays.
There were different points of view from other people of faith. VoteOnMarriage.org Chairman Roberto Miranda, for instance, drew upon what he called "cumulative wisdom," including judicial, moral and spiritual principles to argue for traditional marriage.
Miranda, who says he has a master plan to "reclaim the state of Massachusetts for Jesus Christ," also cautioned committee members against relying on "winsome faces and dramatic stories" from same-sex couples, their children and gay marriage allies. Such anecdotal accounts he suggested were "emotional blackmail."
In other testimony, a panel of businessmen said that a protracted ballot amendment campaign over two more years would be costly and potentially hurt the Massachusetts economy. Former Mass. Revenue Commissioner Mitch Adams said that "tolerance is an important economic driver" and that equal pay for equal work and benefits makes "good business sense" for both gay and straight employees.
Echoing Adams' testimony, Robert Glassman, chairman of the board for Wainwright Bank said, "The private sector has moved rapidly to adopt non-discrimination policies, health care benefits for same-sex couples, and diversity." He added that these moves have been good from the "board room to the mailroom." From Glassman's perspective, the business community does not want "an ugly, acrimonious, negative and protracted fight that would be destructive to our economy," he said. Glassman urged committee members not to take the public sector away from the private sector's positive direction and trajectory for gay civil rights.
Another topic of testimony focused on the signature gathering process and allegations of signature fraud reported to MassEquality.org, the pro-gay marriage umbrella group, and KnowThyNeighbor.org, a state watchdog organization. Mass. Attorney General Tom Reilly has been asked to investigate fraud allegations.
For his part, Marc Solomon, MassEquality campaign director urged the committee to give the initiative petition an "unfavorable report," he said. "It's time for the Legislature to move on to other issues that matter to citizens like public education, jobs and economic security."
Tom Lang and Aaron Toleos, co-directors of KnowThyNeighbor.org, spoke directly to what they allege is "fraud and forgery" in the petition gathering effort. They presented a packet of information, including dozens of affidavits from individuals who allege "bait and switch" tactics among other deceptive practices. "I implore the honorable members of this committee to call . . . these people who have submitted affidavits," said Lang, adding "You will hear the stories, you will understand the treachery, but you will also and more importantly witness their lack of understanding of the democratic process, confusion over the issue itself and the complacency and apathy of the electorate."
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