"We can't allow the lowest common denominator states, like Massachusetts, to set standards for the country," Lafferty said.
Yesterday something happened that affects my household. A major ruling appears to have demolished DOMA's impact on my house. I know that a lot of legal maneuverings seem abstract to people. But this one really does hit home for me.
I share a house with a friend I've had since college over 20 years ago. We were born about 33 days apart. We both grew up in Massachusetts. We both attended UMass, where we met in the John Adams dorm. Oh, by the way--I'm female, he's male.
Our friendship persisted over the years, with various ups and downs due to various life situations. But eventually I ended up back in Massachusetts, and we continued to be fast friends.
Eventually I wanted to move closer to Boston. My friend also wanted to live in this area. Neither of us anticipated being married at any point, for various reasons. So we decided to team up on a mortgage and split a 2-family house. In 2000 we found a great house that met all of our criteria. We split a mortgage. And we moved in. It's been a great situation for both of us, and has worked quite smoothly for nearly 10 years now.
Here's our house, behind Paul Revere:
So in that house we have 2 people. We have nearly identical backgrounds. We share the same exact space on this planet. And yet: one of us could marry the furriner we love. One of us could not. Until now, apparently.
This is not abstract. This is real. And it matters. It matters to me, and it matters to my best friend.
But here's what I want to know: which one of us is the least common denominator, Ms. Lafferty? Which one of us doesn't deserve to marry the person we want to? Come here and talk to us. See if you can figure it out. And I want to know why. Which of us is less than the other? Which of us doesn't calculate properly in your math system?
Honestly, our house is a case study for this. And I dare anyone to tell me why one of us doesn't deserve to marry the person we choose, and to access all of the federal benefits and responsibilities that come with it. Which one of us is the lowest common denominator? The person who lives upstairs, or the one who lives downstairs?
Here's a hint: we are equal--nearly as equal as two people can be, and we are equal to all the other Americans who marry the partners that they choose. Period.
UPDATE: the original URL appears to have changed, or the underlying story has. You can Google the statement to see it in a number of sources, but just for the record Andrea Lafferty's title is in this story:
Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, called Tauro's ruling "judicial activism" and said Tauro was a "rogue judge."