Saw this on the news as well as here
Crowds of gay marriage supporters and opponents crowded the front of the Statehouse hours before the session convened to press lawmakers on the measure, which would define marriage in Massachusetts as the union of a man and woman.
Proponents of the amendment seized the high ground, standing directly at the foot of the Statehouse steps with signs reading, "Let the People Vote."
"Legislators are sent to Beacon Hill to vote on a matter, not to not vote on a matter," said one of the sign holders, Paul Ferro, 30, of Norton.
Opponents stood on the opposite side of Beacon Street, in front of a Civil War memorial, with their own banners. "Let the people marry," read one.
In a display of the emotions, one of the amendment's backers yelled across the street at a person with a sign reading, "Start Acting Like Christians." The amendment proponent said, "We are Christians, just like you."
which led me to start thinking how people view what they consider their rights. I couldn't help but watch the crowds that assembled outside the statehouse, with gay marriage opponents vehemently in favor of allowing the people to vote hoping they will vote for an amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state. This issue once again seems to me to be a right vs. left one, in that, religious entities and republicans seem to mostly be on the side favoring the amendment. As such, the republicans are of course keeping the debate front and center in their never-ending attempts at polarizing and splitting the middle class. However, that is a topic for another diary.
The question I have is this: Why is it that so many people are ready to deny a minority their constitutional rights but won't hit the streets and protest the stripping away of their own rights? The Bush crime administration has and is denying Americans some of the deepest and most dear of their constitutional rights, but WHERE are the protesters?