Groups mark anniversary differently

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD The first anniversary of the ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that affirmed the legality of same sex messages in the Commonwealth was marked in radically different ways.

One group spent the morning of May 14 going door-to door seeking signatures on postcards to legislators to uphold same sex marriage, while another group gathered in Court Square and used the metaphor of the Boston Tea Party to demonstrate their opposition to the ruling.

Joe McCoy of Mass Equality told Reminder Publications that about 80 groups of two went through Springfield neighborhoods on May 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. seeking support to prevent over-turning the decision. The volunteers asked residents to sign postcards that will be sent to legislators to reject a constitutional amendment that would eliminate homosexual marriage.

This was not the first time for such an effort and McCoy said another one is planned for the first weekend of June. The volunteers met at Tapestry Health Systems at 365 Bay St., for an hour of training and returned there with the signed postcards.

McCoy said that support among the Springfield residents they visited tended to follow the statewide polls for support of same sex marriage. He estimated that there was 50 to 60 percent in favor.

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No one was in favor of same sex marriage at a rally on May 17 in downtown Springfield, though. About 25 people gathered to listen to speakers from several groups call for the removal of four justices from the Supreme Judicial Court and the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Sponsored by the Faith in Action Team of the Pioneer Valley (FIAT), the 90-minute protest included a speech from Richard Howell of Wilbraham who represented the Natural Rights and Law Compact. Howell said that organization was working to rescind gay marriage, cut taxes and fight abortion.

"Why ensconce it [same sex marriage] in law?" Howell asked. "It used to be live and let live."

Thomas Ross, the director of Massachusetts Citizens for Constitutional Reform (www.maccr.com) said that the Supreme Judicial Court ruling was unconstitutional. His organization is calling for an "assembly to consult upon the common good." Ross explained that Article 19 of the state constitution reads "the people have a right, in an orderly and peaceful manner, to assemble to consult upon the common good; give instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, by the way of addresses, petitions or remonstrances, redress of the wrongs done them and of the grievances they suffer."

Ross said that while same sex marriage is not the sole focus of his organization, he said it was the "catalyst" to address what he described as a "constitutional crisis" in the state.

Michael Franco of FIAT said that the impact of gay marriage hasn't been felt "overnight," but rather that it is part of "liberalization" of the nation that has been taking place for the past 40 years. Franco cited the rise of teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency and incarcerations as evidence of the effect of the nation's moral decline.

The culmination of the event was a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. People attending the protest put stripes of paint on their face and wore paper headbands and feathers. Speaking from the park's gazebo, Howell invited the children of the group to come up and hurl boxes labeled "East India Company Tea" off the gazebo. Others in attendance followed them.

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Springfield City Clerk William Metzger said that there has been a definitely "slow-down" in the number of gay couples applying for a marriage license since the initial activity a year ago.