The MassResistance blog began in early 2005 with a Massachusetts focus on judicial tyranny, same-sex "marriage", and LGBT activism in our schools. We broadened our focus to national-level threats to our Judeo-Christian heritage, the Culture of Life, and free speech. In 2006, Article 8 Alliance adopted the name "MassResistance" for its organization. CAUTION: R-rated subject matter.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Rep. Loscocco's Vote Worth Lots to Homo Lobby
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Tim Gill's Donations to Mass. Legislators in 2004
Tim Gill of the Gill Foundation was still into open donations to state legislators and candidates in 2004. But since that time, after the establishment of his Gill Action Fund PAC -- with former Mass. pol Patrick Guerriero at its head -- he's been funneling his money more secretively. How many little MassEquality activists have volunteered to launder his funds (and for sure, activists outside the state as well)?
Look at this list of 2004 recipients of Gill's largesse [click on "search contributions" then enter name of donor and dates]. Why don't we see Gill's name any more on the Secretary of State's records? We do, however, see his operative Guerriero running the show at the June 14 Constitutional Convention (photo above), where they buried VoteOnMarriage's amendment with Gill's money. (In the Mass. Elections Division report, Gill variously identifies his employer as: retired; philanthropist; attorney; investor; unemployed; self-employed; Quark Express, and Gill Foundation. In one entry, he is listed as Tina Gill. Maybe that explains his support of tranny causes?)
GILL, TIM
461 RACE STREET DENVER, CO 80206
9/14/2004 $500.00 Resor, Pamela P.
10/19/2004 $500.00 O'Leary, Robert
10/28/2004 $500.00 Augustus, Edward M.
12/11/2004 $500.00 DiMasi, Salvatore F.
09/01/2004 $500.00 Fargo, Susan C.
09/01/2004 $500.00 Stanley, Thomas M.
09/01/2004 $500.00 Palacios-Boyce, Monica
09/01/2004 $500.00 Turner, Cleon H.
09/01/2004 $500.00 Canessa, Stephen R.
09/07/2004 $500.00 Sannicandro, Tom
09/08/2004 $500.00 Meoni, Paul J.
09/10/2004 $500.00 McQuilken, Angus
09/10/2004 $500.00 Sheehan Jr., Kenneth
09/10/2004 $500.00 Mazza-Moriarty, Rosemarie
09/12/2004 $500.00 Patrick, Matthew C.
09/15/2004 $500.00 Sciortino, Carl
10/20/2004 $500.00 Purinton, Timothy A.
10/20/2004 $500.00 Peake, Sarah K.
10/20/2004 $500.00 Thomas, John
10/21/2004 $500.00 McFeeley, John J.
10/22/2004 $500.00 Teahan, Kathleen M.
10/22/2004 $500.00 Peisch, Alice Hanlon
10/30/2004 $500.00 Howitt, Steven
10/12/2006 $500.00 D'Amico, Steven J.
10/20/2006 $500.00 Smith, Stephen Stat
10/12/2006 $500.00 Sandlin, Rosemary
10/20/2004 $500.00 Speliotis, Theodore C.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
MassEquality Shifting Focus to "Trans Rights & Hate Crimes" Bill
The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) of which MassEquality is a member organization, on July 17 sent a letter to the MassEquality board of directors asking that the organization step up to the plate on the effort to pass a bill that would outlaw discrimination based on gender identity or expression and enhance penalties against perpetrators of crimes motivated by the victim’s gender identity or expression....
Ryan [MTPC co-chair; a "transwoman"] said that this is the first time MTPC has reached out to the MassEquality board for help on the transgender rights bill. Both she and fellow MTPC Co-Chair Gunner Scott ["transman"] said that though they have long had conversations with MassEquality staff members about the bill, they recognized that the organization’s primary focus was on securing marriage equality. Now, said Scott, “If they’re going to continue as a GLBT equality organization we’d like, of course, for them to focus on the trans bill that’s currently pending.” Solomon [MassEquality director] agreed that the LGBT community must turn its attention to securing protections for transgender people. “Passing an aggressive transgender civil rights bill that protects transgender people from hate crimes and discrimination has got to be a top community priority,” he said. [emphasis added]
Not mentioned in the Bay Windows article: MassEquality is also now quietly working hard to be sure they have the votes to actually LEGALIZE "gay marriage" -- with an actual LAW! Though why they think the law is important, we don't know. They certainly don't want the public to know about this little glitch -- that Mass. statutes still don't allow same-sex "marriage"! While he didn't mention that issue, Marc Solomon of MassEquality did say (immediately after the defeat of the marriage amendment on June 14) that he was working on the best timing to overturn the 1913 law barring out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying here. Though we're not sure why they need to do that either, since Massachusetts bureaucrats claim they are now empowered to tell other states what to do. (See yesterday's news on the Mass. DPH bureaucrat who issued a fiat allowing New Mexico homosexual couples to marry here.) MassEquality and the Trans Caucus have a sure ally in Gov. Deval Patrick for these bills, which will probably all be heard by the Judiciary Committee in the Fall:
- legalizing their same-sex "marriages" H1710, S918
- overturning the 1913 law barring marriages by out-of-state same-sex couples S800, S1029
- "transgender rights and hate crimes" H1722.
As the MassEquality board weighs the organization’s future, daily work continues. Most importantly, the organization has set about offering support to the nine legislators who switched from supporting to opposing the amendment between the Jan. 2 ConCon and the June 14 session and the two freshman lawmakers who had campaigned on support for the amendment last fall but ultimately decided to vote against it. To that end, MassEquality Development Director Scott Gortikov [who once donated to MassResistance in an attempt to get on our email alert list] has been working with some of the organization’s major donors — gay and straight — to steer campaign contributions to the newest crop of pro-equality legislators, who may be vulnerable in next year’s elections because of their vote switch. Gortikov declined to name specific legislators who have benefited from his work thus far. ...
Besides steering major donors toward potentially imperiled pro-equality legislators, MassEquality is also encouraging its members to attend fundraisers for their respective lawmakers. On July 12, for example, members of the affiliate group Quincy for Marriage Equality were a visible presence at Sen. Michael Morrissey’s annual fundraiser at Waterworks, a Quincy nightspot. ... Beyond campaign contributions, MassEquality members are making their support for vote switchers visible in other ways, said Solomon. For instance, in a Fourth of July parade in state Sen. Gale Candaras’s Western Mass. district, a crowd of marriage equality supporters turned up waving signs thanking Candaras for coming around to the cause of equality after several years of anti-equality votes.
Monday, June 25, 2007
CNN Joins Transsexual Propaganda Push
Right: Patrick Guerriero, former Mass. pol and now Executive Director of Gill Foundation's Action Fund, doling out millions in Massachusetts State House. On left: Arline Isaacson, chief GLBT lobbyist.
Below: Mara Keisling, "male-to-female" transsexual "personal mentor" of Patrick Guerriero, addressing trans rally at Harvard. [photo credits: InNews Weekly]
Reporter Sanchez interviewed a doctor from Children's Hospital in Los Angeles (Dr. Marvin Belzer) who subscribes to the Dr. Spack school of medicating "transgender" children prior to puberty in order to ease their sex change operations later. The report did mention that the American Academy of Pediatrics has no guidelines drawn up on this practice.
A few months ago, while still head of the National Log Cabin Republicans, Guerriero signaled his commitment to the trans cause, and named the "male-to-female" leader of the National Center for Transgender Equality as his "personal mentor": Coalitions with choice and environmental groups and hot button issues like the Schiavo matter represent an evolution in Log Cabin strategy. So too is a stronger focus on transgender rights that Guerriero has introduced in Log Cabin since he took over in 2002. “I have actually brought a level of discussion of that issue to the organization over the past couple of years,” he explained, saying that Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, has served as “a personal mentor” to him.“I think we need us all to move forward and we should be wary of leaving anyone behind,” Guerriero said.
Is the American public really buying this trans propaganda? How can the reporters buy into this? Do transgenders throw really good parties, or what?
CNN links:
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2007/06/24/sanchez.what.is.transgender.NY1&wm=10
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/lgbt.america/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/world/2007/06/07/rao.indonesia.transgender.cnn
Sunday, June 24, 2007
How Gill Foundation Buys Votes
Over the summer, [pro-family incumbent who lost] Carroll’s opponent started receiving checks from across the country—significant sums for a statehouse race, though none so large as to arouse suspicion (the gifts topped out at $1,000). Because they came from individuals and not from organizations, nothing identified the money as being “gay,” or even coordinated. Only a very astute political operative would have spotted the unusual number of out-of-state donors and pondered their interest in an obscure midwestern race. And only someone truly versed in the world of gay causes would have noticed a $1,000 contribution from Denver, Colorado, and been aware that its source, Tim Gill, is the country’s biggest gay donor, and the nexus of an aggressive new force in national politics.
Scrolling through the thirty-two-page roster of campaign contributors revealed plenty of $25 and $50 donations from nearby towns like Oskaloosa and New Sharon. But a $1,000 donation from California stood out on page 2, and, several pages later, so did another $1,000 from New York City. “I’ll be darned,” said Carroll. “That doesn’t make any sense.” As we kept scrolling, Carroll began reading aloud with mounting disbelief as the evidence passed before his eyes. “Denver … Dallas … Los Angeles … Malibu … there’s New York again … San Francisco! I can’t—I just cannot believe this,” he said, finally....
Gill’s decision to shift away from national politics seems dictated even more by his philosophy about how to engage most effectively in politics than by the mediocre gains chalked up during the Clinton years. “If your objective is to innovate and take risks, you move faster with a small group,” Gill’s political director, Guerriero, told me. “If Columbus had needed a conference call before setting sail for America, he’d still be at the dock.”...
One component of Gill’s strategy includes courting that element of the Republican Party that’s open to compromise, while at the same time making clear that gay bashing will now come at a price. “You have to create an atmosphere of fear and respect,” said Trimpa, “and set up the proper context for them to do the right thing.”
Also, National Review exposed the takeover of the Colorado state house as more of Gill's handiwork. (See "The Color Purple: how liberal millionaires are buying Colorado's politics" by John J. Miller.):
A large number of Republicans believe that their hard times ultimately come down to a single factor: money. "We haven't seen anything like this before," says Katy Atkinson, a longtime GOP consultant. "The money factor is absolutely enormous." ... Three millionaire liberals are working the state's electoral levers. "They're trying to buy the political structure of the state," says Governor Owens. "Everywhere we look, we see their money and their resources." The ringleader is Tim Gill, the founder of Quark, a software firm; over the last decade, he has donated tens of millions to gay and lesbian causes. ...
Two years ago, Ray Martinez learned firsthand what their money can do. He was a former police sergeant and a popular three-term mayor of Fort Collins. When a state senator retired in his district, he threw his hat in the ring. "We thought he would win easily," says [former Gov.] Owens. The district is home to about one-third more registered Republicans than Democrats. But then Colorado's liberal millionaires swooped in, bankrolling slash-and-burn ads about Martinez. Many of them aired in Denver's pricey TV market--an extravagance previously unheard of in state-senate races. "You know how you hear about elections that are bought? That's what happened to me--my opponent's election was bought," says Martinez. "My campaign cost about $350,000, and the other side spent as much as $1.7 million against me."
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Did Gill Foundation's Millions Defeat Marriage Amendment?
Here is Arline Isaacson (center), chief lobbyist for the Mass. Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, with her close ally Patrick Guerriero, former Massachusetts pol, more recently head of national Log Cabin Republicans, and now Executive Director of the Gill Foundation Action Fund. We've pointed out for a year now that Guerriero was going to be spreading around Gill's millions to our Mass. legislators and organizations. Well, looks like we were right. Hard to trace though.
Coming Repeal of 1913 Law & Legalizing Still Illegal "Gay Marriage"
A current law (dating from 1913) bars marriages here which would be illegal in a couple's (or eventually, a group's) home state. H1728 would overturn this law. We've been pointing out for some time that a companion bill filed by the homosexual lobby, H1710, would LEGALIZE still illegal HOMOSEXUAL "MARRIAGE". (The statutes never changed after the Goodridge ruling.)
There will probably be an attempt to rush these two bills through at midnight sometime in August when most normal people are vacationing. So stay in touch with the Judiciary Committee and watch the hearings schedule, especially for Bill H1710, which states:
Chapter 207 [marriage statutes] is hereby amended by adding the following new section:--
Section 37A. Any person who otherwise meets the eligibility requirements of this chapter may marry any other eligible person regardless of gender.
[Note the word "gender" is used instead of "sex". The GLBT groups behind this bill live in the Brave New World of "gender" fluidity, where biological sex and its implications are a politically incorrect concept.]
We suspect that the homosexual lobby realizes the news profile is a bit too elevated on the subject of the 1913 law, and they also want to deflect attention from this companion bill to legalize homosexual/transsexual/pansexual "marriage". Only MassResistance has pointed out that the H1710 even exists! The mainstream media have never mentioned it.
Back to the 1913 law: Marc Solomon of MassEquality was quoted (the day after the VoteOnMarriage amendment defeat) on how he is working with Governor Patrick and legislative leaders on the schedule to overturn it. The homosexual lobby now has more than 3/4 of the state legislators in their pocket. From the Boston Globe (6-16-07):
Proponents [of sodomy "marriage"] said they will also eventually look to open the door to couples from other states to marry in Massachusetts. Solomon said there is overwhelming support in the Legislature to repeal the 1913 law that prohibits couples from out of state from marrying in Massachusetts if the union would not be legal in their own state. "The next step is to sit down with legislative leaders and the governor's people and talk about when it makes sense to advance that piece of legislation," said Solomon, adding that there are no immediate plans for such a meeting.
But maybe they decided after this comment that they need to tamp down public scrutiny on this. So along comes Ellen Goodman. In her Boston Globe column yesterday, she made light of concerns that we'd become the "Las Vegas" of homosexual "marriage" if that law is overturned. She said that other states' bans on homosexual "marriage" will prevent its exportation from Massachusetts. If that's the case, why does the homosexual lobby here want so desperately to overturn the 1913 law? We know that the national homosexual groups (e.g., the Gill Foundation Action Fund) are pouring millions into Massachusetts. Why would they care about this 1913 law, except that they know what happens here will migrate to every other state? Goodman dishonestly writes:
But some are saying that if we overturn the 1913 law, the marrying hordes will come and go back home with a license and a lawsuit. Whether you like or loathe the idea, repealing the 1913 law isn't likely to have much effect. There are at least 44 states with no chance of recognition because of statutes or constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage. As Joanna Grossman, a family law professor at Hofstra who has written extensively on this subject, says, "There's nothing much one state can do to change the national landscape."...
"What makes marriage legally important is recognition by the jurisdiction in which you live," says Grossman. "There's the chance that couples would use this to litigate in a handful of other states like New York. There is the chance that, in a few states, a court might rule that even though we don't permit same-sex marriage, we recognize it if valid elsewhere." But by and large, "Massachusetts would suffer a brief economic boom and that would be the end of it."
Hmm. Doesn't sound like the end of it to us. What about the "full faith and credit" clause of the federal constitution? What about the hyper-aggressive advocacy groups like GLAD and ACLU, and their allies in the federal courts (the 9th District, for instance)? What about the the 14th Amendment which guarantees equal protection under the law -- so some federal court will say we can't have some homosexuals allowed to marry, and some not?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Third Anniversary of Nothing Real -- Just the Fiction of "Legal" Homosexual Marriage
Note the Globe's usual erroneous statement that "the nation's first legal same-sex weddings took place in Massachusetts" in May 2004. No, not legal. There was only a Court opinion, followed by Romney's unconstitutional reprinting of the marriage licenses and orders to Justices of the Peace and Town Clerks.
Also, note the tiny numbers of homosexual couples "marrying" last year (1472) and since January (only 87). That's really not what homosexuality is about -- monogamous commitment. So after the first flurry, we see this huge drop-off.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Radical Gill Foundation Funds Mass. Groups
Here's Gill's list of groups it's openly supporting in Massachusetts. (Add to this legislative campaigns, and very possibly other groups not named!) --
ACLU Foundation - Massachusetts
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts
Bisexual Resource Center
CIGSYA
Common Cause Massachusetts
CPPAX Education Fund
Family Diversity Projects
Fenway Community Health
Freedom to Marry Foundation
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
Gay & Lesbian Athletics Foundation
Greater Boston PFLAG
Institute for Gay & Lesbian Strategic Studies
International Foundation for Gender Education
Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action
Massachusetts NOW Foundation
MassEquality Education Fund
Men's Resource Center of Western Mass.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Foundation
National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
Network/La Red, The
Northeast Action
Pride Zone
Project 10 East, Inc.
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Massachusetts
Roxbury Community Technology Center
Tapestry Health
Theater Offensive, The
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Teen Equality Center (UTEC)
Victory Programs, Inc.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Democrats Across U.S. Sell Out to Homosexual Lobby
Today's Boston Globe covers this story in some detail. Of course, from the Globe's viewpoint, it's a wonderful development -- it's a "special interest" they approve of, one they believe should be exempt from any critical chatter. From "Gay rights group hailed for election role; Democrats say work key to party gains" (1-13-07):
WASHINGTON -- The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's leading gay political organizations, played a quiet but pivotal role electing Democrats at the federal and local level in November, a startling turnaround for a group whose demands for gay marriage helped defeat Democratic candidates in 2004, according to party leaders and lawmakers.
Playing down its support for gay marriage, the HRC mobilized its 650,000 members to staff phone banks, raise money, and participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns to elect candidates sympathetic to gay issues, even if they didn't support gay marriage. The group was the single biggest donor to Democratic state Senate races in New Hampshire, helping the party take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since 1874.
The group also helped congressional candidates from Arizona to Florida and Ohio, and party activists believe the organization can play an even larger role in the 2008 elections....
"What makes you politically powerful is money and membership. We have both, and we have the power to deliver both. We need to do it in a way that makes people stand up and take notice," said Joe Solmonese, HRC president....
Eighty-four staff members were sent to help 30 targeted races in 18 states. More than 90 percent of the 232 candidates the HRC endorsed -- mostly Democrats, but some pro-gay rights Republicans -- won their elections in November.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Gill's Millions Fund Liberal Candidates in Colorado -- AND Massachusetts?
John J. Miller reports in "The Color Purple: How liberal millionaires are buying Colorado's politics" (12-4-06) that three key moneybags are doling out the walking-around money: Gill, who made his fortune as founder of Quark, a software firm; and his allies, "heiress Pat Stryker and dotcom entrepreneur Jared Polis.... each is like a mini-George Soros for Colorado."
We have pointed out on this blog that the Gill money has got to be flowing into the MassEquality coffers in Massachusetts. The Gill Foundation's new director is Patrick Guerriero, Massachusetts native and politician, and former national Log Cabin Republican head. The Mass. Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus's Arline Isaacson has admitted that the Massachusetts homo lobby is working closely with Patrick Guerriero.
We know first hand of many races where the homosexual lobby poured tens of thousands into little tiny State Rep. and State Senate races. MassEquality would send out ten mailings for every one from the Republican or conservative Democrat they wanted to defeat -- never mentioning "homosexual rights" or "same-sex marriage" in their postcard. Their candidate would be identified as the better candidate on all issues but that! On the bottom of the card would be a tiny acknowledgement that it was paid for by MassEquality.
MassEquality, we hear, is laying off some staff now. They are certain they've won on the marriage amendment. Anything is possible when you have the money to buy the legislature!
Monday, September 04, 2006
"Bearded Ladies" and Patrick Guerriero
Someone had better notify Thomas that he is displaying his "transphobia" and in just a few years he could be charged with a "hate crime" if he continues to speak like that! Doesn't he know there's nothing freakish about "bearded ladies"? Doesn't he know that some of the most important voices shaping public policy in the years to come will be bearded ladies? (Check out these groups if you don't believe us: BAGLY, Mass Transgender Coalition, GenderCrash, GLAD, Transcending Boundaries Conference Worcester, National Center for Transgender Equality. And see "New England Leads on Transgender Rights," InNewsWeekly, 8-16-06.)
Massachusetts' own Rep. Barney Frank is working hard to get a federal ban on "transphobia". State Rep. Carl Sciortino is poised to file a "transgender rights" bill in the next session. Several Massachusetts localities -- Boston, Cambridge, Northampton -- already have city ordinances targeting transphobia, and Maine has a state law.
The new Executive Director of the Gill Foundation's Action Fund, Patrick Guerriero, is ready to dole out millions to the "trans rights" cause. As a former Massachusetts politician Guerriero has a special interest in our state, and MGLPC (the "gay" lobbying organization) has acknowledged he's working closely with them. A few months ago, while still head of the National Log Cabin Republicans, Guerriero signaled his commitment to the trans cause, and named the "male-to-female" leader of the National Center for Transgender Equality as his "personal mentor":
Coalitions with choice and environmental groups and hot button issues like the Schiavo matter represent an evolution in Log Cabin strategy. So too is a stronger focus on transgender rights that Guerriero has introduced in Log Cabin since he took over in 2002.
“I have actually brought a level of discussion of that issue to the organization over the past couple of years,” he explained, saying that Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, has served as “a personal mentor” to him.
“I think we need us all to move forward and we should be wary of leaving anyone behind,” Guerriero said.
So watch out Thomas -- and Massachusetts! No more "bearded ladies" talk allowed!
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Who Controls the Massachusetts Legislature?
Right: "Gay" lobbyist Bill Conley (in center) giving marching orders to Representatives including David Linsky (on right) of Natick. Linsky filed a bill in the last session to decriminalize bestiality (and sodomy).
For years, Bill Conley (lobbyist for MGLPC and MassEquality) has been a favorite visitor to DiMasi's office. Conley, recently arrested for soliciting UMass college boys for oral sex, continued to lobby at the State House through July -- for weeks after his arrest -- against the marriage referendum and for homosexual programs in our public schools. And DiMasi was guest of honor at a Back Bay fundraiser for MGLPC (which pays Conley's salary) -- almost three weeks after Conley's arrest.
And did Speaker DiMasi give Grace a little peck on the cheek after her talk?
Friday, August 11, 2006
Who Is Patrick Guerriero?
Mass. Homosexual Lobbyists: Conley, Shapiro, Isaacson: Bay Windows, the Boston "gay" newspaper, recently identified Guerriero (above) as part of the GLBT lobbying team in the Massachusetts State House. He joins these three (left): Bill Conley (recently arrested for solicitation); Norma Shapiro of the ACLU; Arline Isaacson, who works for both the MGLPC and teachers' union (MTA). [Team Photo: Bay Windows.]
In the aftermath of Bill Conley's arrest for solicitation, the GLBT lobby is discussing what it can get away with, and to what extent it needs to regroup. Bay Windows reports that a major new player will be joining the team: Patrick Guerriero, formerly head of the national Log Cabin Republicans, former Mass. State Rep, and former mayor of Melrose. (He was also chosen by Acting Governor Jane Swift to be her running mate for Lt. Gov., though Mitt Romney stepped in and that team never ran.)
Guerriero has just been named Executive Director of the Gill Action Fund which, according to Wikipedia, "was created in August of 2005 from the political donations of Colorado gay millionaire Tim Gill, to coordinate activities with gay rights and other allied organizations, and to embark in activities that the tax code prohibits the nonprofit Gill Foundation from performing. Gill has donated over 100 million dollars (US) to LGBT causes, either directly or through the [Gill] Foundation."
"Basically this entity will become one of the largest funders of LGBT political work in the nation," said Guerriero, who was no doubt hired in part due to his connections in this state. Now the Gill Foundation's MILLIONS will pour into the all-important Massachusetts GLBT beachhead, focusing not only on the "marriage" issue, but also on the homosexual programs in the schools.
In fact, the wording of the law establishing the new independent "Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth" specifically allows for outside, private funding of its activities. (This is in contrast to usual government agencies or school departments, whose allocations are regulated by elected representatives, giving the voters/taxpayers some control.)
From Bay Windows, "MassEquality, Caucus ponder next moves" (8-10-06):
The MassEquality coalition was formed to preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its ruling in the Goodridge marriage lawsuit. Isaacson, who has more than two decades of experience lobbying on Beacon Hill, oversees the team of lobbyists working on marriage equality. Until two weeks ago, Conley, as the only full-time lobbyist working on LGBT issues, formed the core of the lobby team. During an interview with Bay Windows early this year for a story on MassEquality’s lobbying efforts, Isaacson said that Conley spent “99 percent” of his time at the State House working on marriage equality. [They're definitely underplaying the time Conley spent lobbying for homosexual education and youth outreach programs.]
In addition to Isaacson, who works as a lobbyist for the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the other core member of the lobby team is Norma Shapiro, who is the legislative director for the Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. This week, Isaacson said that other members of her team include MassEquality’s Solomon, Ann Lambert, who is a lobbyist for the ACLU, Holly Gunner, a board member of the ACLU and Patrick Guerriero, who is leaving his post as president of the Log Cabin Club at the end of this month to work for the Colorado-based Gill Foundation.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Write Sodomy Into the Constitution -- By Any Means?
- Senate President Travaglini will postpone until November or December (then somehow it will just never come up before December 31). Question #20 will die at the end of the session. "It's time to move on."
- Travaglini will call for a vote to adjourn. (The bad guys have the majority.)
- A quorum will not show up. (The bad guys have the majority.) The ConCon won't even happen. Maybe the Governor will try to force them back into session; maybe not.
- Question #19 will be taken up (originally our proposed bill to define marriage and ban "civil unions" in statute, illegally transformed through shenanigans involving Senators Barrios and the Senate President into an "amendment"). Since this would require a majority of the Legislature to pass, it will surely fail, since that many of our legislators have sold their souls to the CULTURE OF DEATH / GLBT Lobby.
- Question #20 -- VoteOnMarriage's flawed amendment, which we do not support -- would not be taken up if #19 is. The GLBT lobby /Travaglini will say, "Why consider the definition of "marriage" twice? It's time to move on. We've discussed this subject enough!" (Leaving aside that #20 only needs 50 votes to pass on to the required second year's ConCon, and has entirely different wording than #19.)
- VoteOnMarriage's amendment will come to a vote, and will get its 50 needed to pass on to next year's second, required ConCon.
It's a great plan. As time goes by, more and more regular people fall by the wayside, tired of defending real marriage and normal family values. Tired of calling unresponsive or nasty reps. Tired of writing checks to VoteOnMarriage. Meanwhile, millions from the national GLBT activist groups -- the Gill Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, The Victory Fund -- will flow into the state. This is their beachhead. They will give it all they have.
If the amendment ever goes to the popular vote (in 2008), we predict it will lose. Most voters these days respond to emotion, not logic or moral arguments. By 2008, more "GLBT families" will be in existence, more homosexual indoctrination in the schools will have had its effect.
Even if the VoteOnMarriage amendment passes, no good would come of it. Current "homosexual marriages" would be validated. Two classes of unequal GLBT citizens would be created (some allowed to marry, some not), and the court challenge for that "injustice" is already in the works. (See the Court's invitation to the GLBTs below.) Civil unions would not be outlawed. A silly "reciprocal benefits" law might be passed that would open another Pandora's box.
But look at the Supreme Judicial Court ruling yesterday. Though the GLBT activists are feigning surprise and disappointment that the SJC threw out their narrowly defined challenge to the VoteOnMarriage petition, even the Globe points out that they
... were heartened by a concurring opinion opinion written by justices John M. Greaney and Roderick L. Ireland that questions whether the proposed ban, if approved in 2008, would be constitutional.
Venturing beyond the scope of Reilly's certification of the ballot question, Greaney wrote that the 2003 decision legalizing same-sex marriage might be "irreversible" if the proposed amendment was held by the court to violate existing provisions in the constitution that guarantee equal rights.
"The only effect of a positive vote will be to make same-sex couples, and their families, unequal to everyone else," he wrote. "This is discrimination in its rawest form."
The ruling actually INVITED a challenge to the VoteOnMarriage amendment, should it be passed. Meaning, the SJC is prepared to do the unthinkable: rule a Constitutional amendment unconstitutional! (MassResistance/Article 8 Alliance warned of this last July, when the VoteOnMarriage plan was first announced.) In his concurring opinion, Justice Greaney (with Justice Ireland) writes:
"IF THE INITIATIVE IS APPROVED BY THE LEGISLATURE AND ULTIMATELY ADOPTED, THERE WILL BE TIME ENOUGH, IF AN APPROPRIATE LAWSUIT IS BROUGHT, FOR THIS COURT TO RESOLVE THE QUESTION WHETHER OUR CONSTITITUION CAN BE HOME TO PROVISIONS THAT ARE APPARENTLY MUTUALLY INCONSISTENT AND IRRECONCILABLE."