Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Protecting freedom, protecting marriage equality

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At a marriage equality rally in Quincy last week, we were lucky enough to hear from Sgt. Adrian Quinn, a 16 year veteran and the Army National Guard, who returns to Iraq in July.

Why did Quinn decide to speak out against the upcoming anti-gay amendment? Because, as he told the crowd, he is worried he will come home to a Commonwealth “less free than the one [he] left behind.”

If you’re also worried about our Commonwealth becoming less, and not more, free if this amendment goes on the ballot, take the time in these next few days to contact your legislators to let them know how you feel.

When you’ve done that, you can go to http://www.massequal… to view an interactive map that will show you which districts are represented by anti-equality incumbents. Contact your friends and family living in those districts and ask them to take action, too.

The clock is ticking…the time to take action is now.

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  1. From numerous sources on Beacon Hill, we’re still shy votes and it isn’t looking promising.

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    We’re just a few votes shy from 75% of the entire legislature. In what world does that advance an amendment? Clearly, Massachusetts isn’t Bizarro land, because just last ConCon the house and senate procedurally blocked the health care amendment, which was also driven by voter signatures.

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    Yes, do everything you can to stop this amendment. However, the time is for Senator Murray to stand up and do the right thing. If she wants to be remembered and celebrated by the homophobes at MassResistance, that’s great for her. If she wants to be remembered – as a hero – and celebrated by the vast majority of Massachusetts for standing tall and being courageous, she should stand up for her principals and block this amendment from going forward. With almost 75% of the state house on her side, she has nothing to worry about.

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    The ball is in her courts. As Senate President and the person who is presiding over this ConCon, she has near complete control over this issue. She’s leader, this is her baby – a simple motion by her could end this debate for years to come.

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    She should know the public will hold her accountable for her decision here. She’ll go down either as a herione, who stood up for equality, or as someone who defended the homophobes when they tried to strip away the rights of a minority. I hope she chooses well.

    • Right on the mark, Ryan.  Something else I want Senator Murray to consider – to a large degree she now controls how much daily bullying and defamation I and other LGBT people will, or won’t, continue receive.  Numerous allies bemoan the impending negative ad campaign should the vote go to the electorate.  Yes, it’s politically disadvantageous for the Dems, it will be expensive and make some allies uncomfortable.  But to me, it means more of this daily confontation with defamation.  I would like Sen. Murray to ask herself, has she ever had to defend her citizenship and humanity on a daily basis for years on end?  I think I’m starting to get an inkling of what it means to grow up Black in racists America.  No wonder the incidence of cardiovascular disease is higher among African Americans – the stress and humiliation is incredible.  So I ask Senator Murray to please remember – whatever you do on June 14th will have a tremendous impact on the phyche of LGBT people.

      • “No wonder the incidence of cardiovascular disease is higher among African Americans”

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        you have got to be kidding me

        • Is a member of MassResistance, and Article 8 Alliance. These two anti-gay groups are responsible for all sorts of misinformation, and you should check anything they have to say for factual accuracy.

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          If Paul said it was night outside, I’d go check for myself.

          • That I had ketchup on my shirt.  This was followed up by pointing.  When I looked down to view this affront to clean laundry, he quickly moved his pointing finger upwards and hit me in the nose.  He then laughed in a fashion that caused me to wonder if I was missing some dramatic irony in this whole situation.

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            But no, I didn’t miss anything.  Paul is just an idiot.

            • We used to do that in high school. I wonder if he matured past that stage emotionally?

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              BTW, your post is very inspiring. Not everyone has the courage to stand up and say they see something wrong. We don’t have to see eye to eye on everything for me to respect you, or for us to live in peace. Best wishes Joe…

            • Can’t handle being a Catholic so now he wants to change the religion. Because his mommy said so. Whadda ya want, tears?

              • Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

                • A leading gay marriage opponent is urging top prosecutors to probe allegations that the Patrick administration has floated job offers to induce anti-gay marriage lawmakers to leave the Legislature before a critical vote next week.

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                  p>  Kris Mineau, spokesman for VoteOnMarriage.org, said he has heard persistent complaints about alleged job offers as lobbying has intensified in recent days. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote next Thursday on whether to put a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage on the ballot in 2008.

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                  p>  ?From what we?re hearing (of the job offers), the level of this would warrant a look by the (state) attorney general or the U.S. Attorney?s Office,? Mineau said yesterday. ?If one were to read the laws about bribery in government, this would appear to fall into that category.?

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                  p>  Patrick previously denied making job offers after the Herald reported that he had made such overtures to lawmakers. A spokesman for Patrick said last night, ?Employment decisions in this administration are based on qualifications and the merits.?

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                  p>  Mineau said he has not directly contacted Attorney General Martha Coakley or the U.S. Attorney?s Office in Boston to ask for a formal investigation. He also declined to identify specific lawmakers who have allegedly received job offers, saying he does not want to subject them to more public scrutiny. Patrick is currently trying to fill several posts in agencies overseen by his office.

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                  p>  ?The pressure on our legislators is absolutely unprecedented,? Mineau said yesterday. He said the calls are not just coming from local gay marriage supporters, but from national officials such as Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), Democratic Party chief Howard Dean and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who held an event at the Park Plaza Hotel yesterday and a fund-raiser last night.

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                  p>  As of the last official count, the proposed ban would pass by seven votes, but supporters of gay marriage have been lobbying fiercely to turn the tables.

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                  p>  ?We?re continuing to work hard, and the legislators are listening,? said Marc Solomon, campaign director of MassEquality, which is leading efforts to keep gay marriage legal. ?We have had good discussions with a number of legislators who have not yet voted with us.?

                • Should I be reporting this Rep to the Attorney General??

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                  And I heard it from another lege, Senator Bruce Tarr directly that Kris Mineau told the Senator that if he doesn’t vote the way that Mineau wants him to that Mineau will run against him.

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                  Is that a threat?  Should I be reporting Mineau to the AG’s office also? 

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                  Let’s face it, many of these leges don;t vote one way or the other because they believe in an issue.  They vote in order to get re-elected, keep the most people happy, and secure future pay checks 

                • As a matter of fact – I think Brad is already done and voting yes. He says he’s had enough of your intimidation.

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                  “They vote in order to get re-elected, keep the most people happy, and secure future pay checks”

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                  Which makes it more and more likely that they will switch

                • The Hallmark of the MassResistance and VOM bigotry crew. Come back to us when you have specifics instead of smoke signals.

          • I have nothing to do with Mass Resistance or Article 8

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            John Hosty on the other hand has publicly threatened me and gave out my phone number to the psychos over at Know thy Neighbor and pleaded with people to call me and harass me and my family.

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            Are you going to deny this John?

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            Or should I go back and cut and paste and show everyone here at Blue Mass what kind of criminal you are?

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            once again – someone makes a bigoted comment “blacks have heart disease because they are stressed from racism”

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            I call them out and John Hosty comes to the rescue calling me a member of Mass Resistance.

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            Prove that I am a member John Prove it – You are a bald face Liar.

            • This was posted to KnowThyNeighbor.org on Feb 5, 2006 12:57 PM by Paul Jamieson:

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              That is the crux of the matter here and it gets distorted and used against people. Then anyone who pushes the Democratic process gets labeled a “Theocratic, dominionist, Nazi, homophobe” who wants to kill homosexuals.”

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              Here’s a picture of the guy Paul is trying to defend prior to him killing a policeman, his girlfiend, and himself:

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              We also have the post under the name MassResistance:

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              So, was it a hate crime when Robida killed a policeman and woman? See commentary on http://www.MassResistance.net

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              Posted by: MassResistance | February 05, 2006 at 08:59 PM

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              Here is a third person point of view that also blogged on KTN:

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              John,

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              I wanted to understand what happened that made you continually revert from justifiable angry outbursts and Kumbaya.

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              Then I remembered these postings on the first thread. I repost them now.

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              JOHN PRINTED THIS THE DAY AFTER THE PUZZLES INCIDENT AND AARON TOOK OUT THE LAST FOUR NUMBERS OF THE PUBLICLY LISTED NUMBER.

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              Please direct your comments for Paul to his home telephone number: 978-887-xxxx

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              START MODERATOR<<<<

              I x’d out Paul’s home phone. I understand that people are heated but I don’t think this is constructive.

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              moderator@knowthyneighbor.org

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              END MODERATOR<<<

              Posted by: John Hosty | February 03, 2006 at 10:35 PM

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              THEN, PREDICTABLY, PAUL ANSWERED JOHN WITH THIS STATEMENT:

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              Hey John,

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              That is straight out intimidation and a page right out of the psycho in New Bedfords book.

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              Keep it up Salemman, you are fanning the flames and are close to a lawsuit.

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              Posted by: Paul Jamieson | February 03, 2006 at 11:12 PM

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              JOHN ANSWERED PAUL WITH THIS RETORT:

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              “Aren’t you going to ask to meet me eye to eye like you did with 60 year old Mark? Am I too much man for you to try to threaten in the same way? You are nothing but a coward with a big mouth.”

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              My Comment simply stated for people to call Paul. This is what he twists into intimidation. And all this after he him self was trying to intimidate a 60 year old gay man, asking for his address to he could “meet” him. This is what they do at MassResistance. Here is a link to my post about their honesty issues, and latest attack against KnowThyNeighbor.org:

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              http://bluemassgroup…

              • But it looks like Hate is back! Check out the bashing of a gay man in Lowell only this Friday:

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                http://takemassactio…

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                This really underscores the for you to stop Mr. Jamieson. Innocent people ARE getting hurt, and it is because of hate mongers like yourself.

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                Isn’t there another way you could serve Christ that more concentrates on His love, and not your obsesssion?

      • This moves it slightly off the topic, and I don’t know if this is exactly what you meant Laurel, but I wanted to commend you for pointing out that bigotry does indeed effect (and lessen) the health of those being targeted with the bigotry — regardless of who those targets are. As one can read in the Black Commentator:

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        Compared to whites, Blacks born now, on average, are expected to live 5 or more years less than whites; Black will suffer 40.5% more from deaths than whites; Blacks are 50% more likely to have high blood pressure than whites; and Blacks are 140% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Regardless of the form of cancer, Blacks are less likely to be alive five years after diagnosis. This is even true of skin cancer. With respect to HIV/AIDS, in 2004, 50% of known cases in the US are African Americans, despite the fact that African Americans are only 12.3% of the population. In 2004, Black men were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS at a rate 603.7 % higher than for white men. Black women were diagnosed at a rate 1,993% higher than white women. Finally, the infant mortality racial disparity between Blacks and whites continues to grow, where Black are more likely to die in infancy than whites: 5.7 white baby deaths per 1,000 births as compared with 14 Black baby deaths per 1000 births.

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        There is just no way that all these disparities are coincidental.

        • That’s exactly what I meant, pucknomad, thank you.  I’d say it is right on topic, because bigotry is bigotry.  The only difference between racism and homophobia is the group* targeted for the bigotry.

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          Senator Murray can read about the real, very negative heath and lifespan effects homophobia has on LGBT people here (warning, it’s a pdf file!).

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          *We should never forget that LGBT people come from every walk of life, so that those who are also racial minorities, women, etc. get a multiple whammy.

          • It’s all pretty real, and I wonder if anyone will bother to measure some of the health impact on the LGBT community if this amendment does come for a vote.

            • dunno.  if they’d been measuring the impact of the impending June 14th vote on me, they would see a sharp upswing in the incidence of headaches, insomnia and stomach upset.  a pattern much as in the month or two before each previous concon, with a gently increasing baseline over the entire multi-year period.

        • Black will suffer 40.5% more from deaths than whites

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          …I have never heard that whites are exempt from expiration.  One life.  One death.

          • about the topic at hand – that living under the strain of bigotry has negative effects on one’s health?

            • …there is no question about it.  I didn’t know that that was even a topic that required discussion.

                • based on some responses above it apparently does.

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                  Since you haven’t specified what responses you are referring to–and I’m not going to speculate–I don’t know what you are referring to.  Do you care to explain?

                • Think that statistics showing gays living shorter lives etc. is because of their life choices, and not due to the health issues associated with oppression.

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