EQUAL TAXES, EQUAL RIGHTS!
At 5:30 PM, on Wednesday April 15th, Join the Impact MA will swim against the tide of right-wing rants invoking a Boston Tea Party theme (check it out: http://taxdayteaparty.com/about ), to protest federal discrimination against same-sex married couples in the town where the history still lives. With a flair our differently-winged counterparts can only dream of, LGBT organizers will stage a reenactment of the real Boston Tea Party near the site of the historical event on Boston Harbor. LGBT and allied protesters in colonial attire (or not) will throw mock federal tax forms into the water. (Our web site: http://www.jointheimpactma.com… ) The location, Long Wharf, is just a few hundred yards away from the locus of the actual events of December 16, 1773 (now landfill), and conveniently near present-day Aquarium Station on the Blue Line.
Our colonial forebears protested British taxes on tea because the Crown had resorted to predatory pricing of a staple commodity to force acceptance of the British prerogative to tax. They objected to the offensive message being sent, that taxes could be freely imposed from London, and the manipulative way that the tax was set low. Modern-day patriots object to the unequal federal tax, social security, and immigration law treatment of committed same sex couples, including married couples in the land of Paul Revere and John and Sam Adams. Our particular beef for taxday is the federal surtax on gays and lesbians whose employers cover their spouses for health insurance; our fundamental organizing principle the right of equal protection under the law. By discriminating in the imposition of federal taxes, the federal government is violating the constitution in pursuit of intrusive social engineering. The government has no input into how people fall in love, and has no right to disincentivize those who are blessed to share their lives with partners of their own sex. We want the federal government out of the bedroom, where it has no place inspecting the private parts of people who have bound themselves together in love.
Please spread the word among folks you think might be interested. We want to put federal discrimination against same-sex couples on the defensive in public debate. Join us if you can!
Also, please RSVP to the facebook event and invite all your friends!
I’ll have to see if something similar is planned locally (Port of Seattle). đŸ™‚
This sounds like a fun way to remind people how fighting for our rights is a Massachusetts tradition. I’ll bring my camera and see if we can post some video.