Dear Senate President Murray,
I am urging you to kill the vote on the same-sex marriage amendment on June 14th. I am urging you to kill it for good, and not just postpone it. This issue has taken over my life for the past four years. I have been with my boyfriend/fiance for nearly 5 years and we are planning on getting married in the future. I do not want to feel forced by the state to get married before next November, before citizens may get the opportunity to vote on my future.
It is unfair, unequal and improper to move this amendment forward. The legislature did not vote on the health-care initiative in January, and they do not need to vote on my rights on Thursday. You have the power to make this move. Regardless about what you have said about vowing to hold a vote, I would hope you would have the courage and honor which your position holds and put an end to this issue on June 14th.
Do you want to be remembered as someone who stood up for equality and stood up for upholding the Massachusetts’ Constitution, or somehow who allowed discrimination and hatred to overtake the state? The power really is in your hands, please do not let the people down. I am urging you again, please procedurally kill the amendment. You will be celebrated for it in many ways.
Sincerely,
Matthew P.
Senate President Murray has the power to put this issue to rest for good. Encourage her to make the right decision. Her contact information is:
Senate President Therese Murray
State House
Room 330
Boston, MA 02133
Tel: (617) 722-1500
FAX: (617) 248-3840
District Office
Building Three, Room 319
Cordage Park
Plymouth, MA 02360
Tel: (508) 746-9332
Therese.Murray@state.ma.us
I’ve also posted this on my blogs/web sites:
LegalLove.Org and MassEngagement.com
I looked across a friend’s back yard party to see who has become the love of my life. We’ve been nearly inseperable in the almost 13 years we have been together. We moved away from home together, and made a new home in Connecticut, then New York. We adopted (he adopted us) a stray cat along the way, and on Feb. 2, 1998 that cat woke us, and saved our lives. Our house burned to a total loss, but everyone got out safely, including the cat.
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Ray was there to greet me at the airport when I came home early from a Phili sales meeting, and he was there to hold my hand when the doctors told me I had a tumor. We spent our life savings on my health care, and on living for today.
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We have had numerous occasions where we celebrate life. Everyone who went remembers our “Christmas in July” party, and the Yankee Swap gag gifts we shared with one another.
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I am proud of who I have chosen as my life mate, and so is my family. Ray’s family thinks likewise of me, and all our friends see how special our bond is. For richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, till death do us part, I pledge my very life to this man. Our relationship is a testimony to the sanctity of marriage. In an instant, I’d do it all again.
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I refuse to allow my life to be summed up and simply dismissed as just one of “Them”.
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I have written a book’s worth of letters, and I even get some responses. I make phone calls, and I do my part by showing up when it matters. Folks, it can’t matter any more than this. This is our opportunity to leave our mark on society, and be the heroes we want to be. Do all that you can, and everything you can. Allow the responsibility of being a Rowdy Citizen to fall upon your shoulders, and ACT GOD DAMN IT!!!
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We get the government we deserve, and if we allow this vessel of bigotry to go to the 2008 ballot, shame on us all. Write President Murray a letter, then get off your asses and do something else! “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi
Your letter is so much more polite than my diary.
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I think the message she needs to learn is that if she doesn’t kill this amendment and we lose, there will be hell to pay and the first head on the chopping block is going to be her’s.
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I will not accept someone who will allow hate to be put on my constitution as my Senate President – and there are a helluva lot of people just like me. She’ll regret it if this thing moves on; it’ll be her fault and people will wise up to that quickly.