My girlfriend in Massachusetts (where she is keeping the Democrats and the gays organized at Harvard Law) forwarded me this beautiful letter, written by a constituent to the state reps in Massachusetts. They are going to vote on whether to start up the constitutional-amendment process on Wednesday - it's going to be close and letters like this (or yours!) will make a difference.
Here's the text:
February 5, 2004
To the 183rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
Happy Valentine's Day. I'm Jill McDonough, the woman replacing a hundred year old ceiling above right, with Josey's DeWalt. Above left is our backyard; last summer I drove back and forth to Western Mass, buying three tons of Goshen stone and unloading it behind our house. I built a retaining wall and stone pathway, planted perennials and mountain laurel, eastern redbud and dogwood...
Josey's a carpenter and vinyl flooring installer, and I teach writing for Boston University and Emerson College. We bought this two-family four years ago; we rent out the nice half, downstairs, and live in the one with falling-down ceilings, upstairs. We're renovating one room a year. In the summertime, we work on the house and the backyard, and have a plot in the community garden on Paul Gore with our friend Bob. In the wintertime, we work on the house, shovel the sidewalk, and look at seed catalogs. We love Tom Brady and Grady Little, for their faith, and believe it is unethical to save parking places. We pay our taxes, recycle, and vote. We make pickles and jam and limoncello. We take chicken soup to sick friends and neighbors.
I'm writing to thank you for making Massachusetts a place we're proud to live. We're proud of the tough, far-sighted decisions Massachusetts has made-- proud to help pay for the Big Dig and the harbor clean-up, and proud to live on a friendly, safe, integrated street. We love Boston for its universities and libraries, for its public spaces and museums. We love the Student Prince, and Horseneck Beach, and Duck Pond in Wellfleet in September We love innertubing in Western Mass, going to Brimfield in the spring, choosing goat's beard and jack-in-the-pulpits at Garden in the Woods. And now we love Massachusetts for the brave and far-sighted and moving steps it's taking to recognize us, and the life we've built here.
I'm writing to tell you that Josey has made me a better person, and that together we are far better citizens than we were apart. We have our neighbors over for brisket and margaritas in the summertime, mostly straight couples who seem to love each other as much as we do. At the Neighborhood Watch meetings, someone wished we had a bulletin board on Sheridan, so Josey bought one and polyurethaned it and put it on the side of our porch: you can see it in the photo. When Josey and I get married in May, she'll be able to get on my B.U. insurance; the $3,924 a year we'll save can go toward replacing those fake-brick shingles with clapboards. She'll also be able to take courses at B.U.; without tuition remission, we can't afford it. We talk about adopting children someday-- right now the adoption people would likely frown on the lead paint we haven't removed yet, and the crumbling ceilings we're still getting to. But we're a great couple, an asset to our city and the state. Marriage would make us even stronger, better able to make our street more beautiful, and some child (two?) happy and safe and ridiculously well-read.
If you believe that Josey and I should break up and find husbands, then it makes sense that you'd want to keep us from getting married. But if you think the siding and seedlings are a good idea, and that we look happy, and would make good moms, it makes sense to send us over to the justice of the peace. I hope knowing a little more about our life helps you to see that Massachusetts is on the right track, and the work you do to help us be better citizens, of a stronger state, is important and valid, even though it may feel confusing and exhausting right now. I imagine that without perks like free superbowl tickets, being a public servant mostly means you get yelled at a lot. If you have questions we can answer, or if you're sick and you'd like us to bring you some chicken soup, let us know. We make the stock ourselves, and it's delicious.
Sincerely,
Jill McDonough
The point of all this sappiness is that me and my girlfriend would like to get married someday too, and it would make THE ENTIRE WORLD a better place for us if the Mass Legislature made the decision to let the court's ruling stand. Chances are that it will eventually come to a referendum regardless of this first vote - and I understand that - but it could be a great victory for everyone who cares about gay rights if the left put as much pressure on these reps as the right is putting on them.
Consider this
story from the AP:
...All of Massachusetts' legislators were contacted by telephone and e-mail by the AP since last week's Supreme Judicial Court opinion, and 147 responded. Of those, 62 said they would oppose the constitutional amendment, while 70 said they could support it. An additional 12 said they were undecided, and three said they had no comment. Fifty-two did not respond.
<snip>
Veteran statehouse observers called the situation extremely fluid, with some lawmakers flip-flopping under intense lobbying by members of the clergy, fellow politicians and gay-rights advocates.
So please, whether or not you live in Massachusetts (but especially if you live in Massachusetts), please consider calling the legislature and urging them to do what is right - to recognize that equality is already in their state's constitution, and enshrining discrimination in their state's highest law would be wrong in every way. Remember that the other side has phone banks of people all around the country calling these lawmakers every day to push them towards an anti-gay amendment - help us push back!
Their phone number is 617-722-2000. Give 'em a call anytime and leave a message, or in the morning if you want to talk to a person. If you live in Massachusetts there are resources for you at equalmarriage.org.
Thank you Kossacks! And happy Valentine's - a wonderful time to celebrate and protect what love brings to our lives.
