Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Vigil for Peace in Response to Worcester Violence

By

The Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry are announcing a candelight vigil for peace and reconciliaton in response to the violence perpetrated by Larry Cirignano, Executive Director of Catholic Citizenship, at the “Rally for Democracy” at Worcester City Hall on 12/16/06. The plan is to gather at Copley Square in Boston in the early evening of Wednesday, January 10, and process to the offices of Catholic Citizenship on Tremont Street. There will be a call for dialogue between supporters and opponents of same sex marriage in an attempt to move beyond the overheated rhetoric which has characterized the debate, leading up to the violence in Worcester. The vigil seeks to affirm peace, tolerance, and mutual respect for all citizens of the Commonwealth, as we try to dispel the anger and hostility on display in Worcester.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

    • why sould anyone ever want to hold a peace vigil in this excessively peaceful world?  more peace is just soooo uncalled for.  silly, silly people.

      • Maybe we could hold one against needless sarcasm next.

        <

        p>
        Seriously — one person is pushed so we’re holding a vigil?  It certainly smacks of nothing more than exploiting an innocent woman’s pain to keep the story in the news.

        • how many do you need to see hit the pavement before you advocate for peaceful behavour?  perhaps you need to see blood and bones first?  i can tell you that there has been an enormous quantity of physical and psychic damage done already to lgbt people by this ongoing quest for special rights for heterosexuals.  it’s proponents are abusive in many ways, sometimes physically, always verbally, certainly pyschicaly.  if you haven’t grown up being told your trash and treated by society as a less-than citizen, i don’t expect you to understand.  but why dont you at least try?  your current approach is unproductive at best and facilitating the bigots at worst.

          • Perhaps people should check out the video of the gay marriage supporter who was beaten and unconscious laying on the ground, with police on top of the assailant.

            <

            p>
            The need for the vigil is to draw people together and say that this type of behavior is not acceptable on either side. The fact that Cardinal O’Maley continues to hide out rather than address the issue underlines this need. If our leaders are not able to stand up and denounce violence, who shoulders the responsibility?

          • The posting describes that this is in response to the attack in Worcester, not to the perfidy of anti-homosexual sentiments in our state.  I think one vigil is a frankly exploitative response to that one incident.  If we’re calling for peace and reflection on the attacks on homosexuals across the state, I’m all for it.

        • The debate over banning same-sex marriage has been raging for over three years now, and gaybashing in the media has been rampant. The rhetoric fuels anti-gay violence; Worcester was just the latest and clearest indication of that. We are calling for a toning down of the heat the anti-marriage equality movement has generated in the aftermath of the January 2nd ConCon, in hopes of stopping further violence. The aspersions cast on the organizers’ motives are certainly unfair; I assume there was a little sarcasm there.

        • there is a function that this event could fill that would be very useful:  It could give those in the catholic community a method to distinguish themselves from Mr. C.  If I were heading up an organization of Catholics, I’d jump at the chance to ‘refocus’ the word of mouth buzz about the nature of their objections to same sex marraige.

  2. I fight for my rights because I think it is appropriate for me to make my own decisions in life. I don’t think God gave us free will but then decided his followers should take it away. The right to marry who I choose for myself is already mine, and I think it is ignorant to try and take it away without first justifying that action. I am willing to entertain due process here only if I have due process. That’s why I fight, but I try not to insult or get ugly with people who are not that way to me. I have much respect for the conservative party and know they help to ballance things.

    <

    p>
    The rally is an opportunity for all of us to stand side by side and remember that we are brothers and sisters; children of God. We do not have to agree on everything to be good neighbors, and those who feel the same way I do should come to the rally and show their support for healing. Fear leads to hate, and hate leads to violence. Violence is the real evil we all should be afraid of and work together to combat. None of us have the right to harm someone else, and the issue is escalating. It was not one year ago that a man barely 18 years old went into a bar and shot people, hacked them up with an axe, then went on to kill two and be killed himself. This candle light vigil is long overdue.

    • John, have you approached the Worcester churches about this, especially the UCC and UU ones? Maybe even the Lutherans…

      <

      p>
      This sounds like something that they would turn out for.

      <

      p>

      The rally is an opportunity for all of us to stand side by side and remember that we are brothers and sisters; children of God. We do not have to agree on everything to be good neighbors, and those who feel the same way I do should come to the rally and show their support for healing. Fear leads to hate, and hate leads to violence. Violence is the real evil we all should be afraid of and work together to combat.

      <

      p>
      I don’t think any sane person on either side of the issue could disagree with that.

  3. John Hosty is a captain in the Know Thy Neighbor army.

    <

    p>
    Shamelessly milking this story and trying to get more hits to his own blog are his MO.

    <

    p>
    The peace vigil is the only logical step for him to keep the story alive and cry victim.

    <

    p>
    Tell – Sara M Loy – ACLU board memeber that if she wants peace, to stay away from confrontations orchestrated by extreme leftist groups like KTN.

    <

    p>
    This entire incident was instigated by her and she knew full well what result she wanted when she walked into the opposing crowd with her big sign and big mouth and her big ACLU pedigree.

    <

    p>
    We should counterprotest this “peace” vigil on account of its abuse of the word “peace”

    • This entire incident was instigated by her and she knew full well what result she wanted when she walked into the opposing crowd with her big sign and big mouth and her big ACLU pedigree.

      <

      p>
      Not only was Loy asking for it, apparently, but she wanted it, eh? 

      <

      p>
      On the downside, you are a frightening individual.  On the upside, however, you do provide prima facie evidence that  hateful bigotry is alive and well in Massachusetts, which only serves to motivate thoughtful, decent people to action. 

    • I’m distressed at the hostile tone of the comments of some of the folks posting here. It’s degenerated to personal attacks on respected gay activists, the ACLU, and the victim herself. I’m confident that the comments reflect a lack of understanding of dynamics of homophobia, which is a telling indicator, and thus fail to appreciate the need for peace and reconciliation in the wake of the divisive debate over banning gay marriage. But as a gay anti-violence activist since the 80’s, I’m never surprised at how gay activists get dissed.

      • And the unpleasant and unconstructive hostility is going in both directions here, so far as I can see. Very counter-productive as a matter of convincing people of the justice of one’s position, in MHO.

    • It’s been a long time since we have had a conversation under your own name Paul, how have you been? For those who are wondering Paul is a “troll” that we had to kick off KnowThyNeighbor.org because he was verbally abusive, and threatened several of the people that blog. He also posts under aliases, but don’t take my word for it. Tom Lang keeps all of the comments public, so inform yourself if you are interested.

      <

      p>
      If I wanted to be annonymous I would have used another name here. I am proud to stand up for myself and the gay community, I don’t have anything to hide. But this isn’t about me, it’s about a man who puts his hands on a woman out of anger, and that cannot be rationalized away. Paul, it was not even a year ago that you made a donation to the fund for the victims of Robida, do you remember? You were trying to put your hand out for a brief moment because you were insensed by the violence. What happened?

      <

      p>
      In the end we all have to live together. Isn’t it about time we start acting like caring neighbors that don’t agree on everything?

        • I jumped in early as a volunteer. If you review the site it does a hell of a lot more than just make haters think twice about putting their names on a public vessel of bigotry. It caused people of different opinions to open dialog with each other after finding out where they stand. KnwThyNeighbor.org also played a major role in exposing signatures fraud during the signature gathering in the anti-gay marriage petition process.

          <

          p>
          It’s continuing mission includes but is not limited to:

          <

          p>
          1. give people a blog so they can talk about this issue, and perhaps learn how to live together in peace with those of opposing views

          <

          p>
          2. serve as a watchdog alliance for wrongs perpetrated against the gay community

          <

          p>
          3. organize efforts to lobby against discrimination

          <

          p>
          4. update the public about new developements in the struggle for equality

          <

          p>
          5. encourage people to stand up for their right to live as individuals, and have pride in their individuality

          <

          p>
          At the begining of KnowThyNeighbor.org many people tried to complain without foundation that the organization was about intimidation, but that was never the site’s intention. If you read the mission statement you can see that. Since the opponents of the website howled this as loudly as they could and asked “why don’t we post your names and addresses and see how you like it”, we responded by posting our information. Not once has anyone from either side reported being harrassed as a result, although Tom did get a single phone call from someone who claimed to be part of the KKK.

          <

          p>
          KnowThyNeighbor.org has a great faith in the citizen’s of this Commonwealth, but as in all societies there are some that would stand in the shadows and cast inaccurate dispersions against their neighbors. Since our country is based on the belief we should be able to stand and face our accusors, the argument that posting the public knowledge names on the petition amounts to intimidation is a farce. If anything, casting your hate from the safety of annonymity is intimidation.

          <

          p>
          No matter where you stand on this issue, we have to learn to live together once this conflict is resolved. One step towards that goal is being able to talk, and the KTN blog is one of the few places people of dissenting views on this matter can do just that. Dialog leads to understanding, and that’s where we all benefit. Calling for a candle light vigil against violence is in complete agreement with our steadfast views.

          • As we have discovered in other threads, while your goals are great, I’m not all that comfortable with tactics: in this instance, the tactic of publicizing the names of signatories, even for the purpose of discovering signature fraud.  It seems to me like leaving a box of baseball bats right where an angry mob might find them, and then disclaiming responsibility for what happens next.

            <

            p>
            It is for this same reason that I have taken the reports of last weekend’s incident with a considerable dose of salt.

            <

            p>
            Happy Holiday of your choice, Mr. Hosty…

            • I respect your point of view, and I had to think about it myself a bit. There was a gamble that putting the already public information that was shared on the petitions into a easy access website would cause the problems you feared. I think that the most important things to point out is that is did the good we wished it would, without causing the fruition of your fears. The intimidation and trouble that critics worried about never materialized, and that seems to be proof that our assumptions about the people of this state were correct.

              <

              p>
              Happy Holidays to you sir, and know that neighbors don’t have to agree on all points to still be good neighbors and valuable contributors to the community. We all have our strong points, and together are stronger for the diversity.

    • So in other words folks that support SSM have no right to protest and if they do shout or carry signs they shall be violated and assaulted like Loy was.

      <

      p>
      Yes…yes…the entire counter protest was because of KTN and Tom L.

      <

      p>
      What a bunch of horse crap that statement is.

      <

      p>
      In no other rally that Vote on marriage had was there an incident of violence.

      <

      p>
      Of coarse the ass that perpetrated the assault on Loy wasn’t present at these events.

      <

      p>
      Folks have a right to assemble in protest. (On BOTH sides)

      <

      p>
      Folks DO NOT have the right to put their freaking paws on another person against their will and cause them harm.

      <

      p>
      I seem to recall MANY, MANY big mouths carrying little green vote on marriage signs.

      <

      p>
      Simply because I oppose their opinions does not give me the right to commit assault on one of them.

      <

      p>
      People regardless of their stance need to keep their hands to themselves.

      <

      p>
      Your sole purpose is to instigate and stir up the pot.

      <

      p>
      You have no interest in debating ANY issue in a mutually respectful manner.

      <

      p>
      Simply because she had an opposing sign and used her GOD given voice doesn’t mean she deserved to be violated.

      <

      p>
      You are absurd and insane for thinking she did.

Archives