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Speaker • Teacher • Writer • Activist
One Moment at the Massachusetts State House
Dear All,
It has been a very hard and stressful time here in Massachusetts. I spent 16 hours at the State House yesterday, March 11th, and my fiancée Peg was with me for the last seven hours. There’s a lot of homophobia out here, a lot of hatred, lots of signs saying “Got AIDS Yet” and “God Abhors You” and “Homosexuals are Possessed by Demons.” And then there’s what feels even worse: those smarmy sanctimonious hypocrites who stand out there with their hateful signs and then smile and say “God loves you, we love you, we just want what’s best for you. God doesn’t approve… blah blah blah”– those same people who are against marriage, civil unions and ANY recognition/ protection at all. Must be nice to have a monopoly on God, eh?
For a few hours, we were in a long corridor outside the chambers, basically forming a homophobia sandwich. There were the pro-marriage folks (I’m not letting THEM claim that term) at one end, then there were the anti-gay-marriage folks, then another big group of us at the other end. They were holding what appeared to be a religious meeting in the corridor, and at one point they started shouting, over and over “Jesus.” I’m not sure if it was part of a longer sentence – all I could hear was Jesus… pause… pause… Jesus.
Then I had my Good Idea. The next time they yelled Jesus, I yelled back “loves us!” Immediately my entire side of the sandwich was doing the same. After about 30 or 40 renditions of “Jesus… Loves Us” they stopped that particular chant, were silent for a minute or two (perhaps for the only time in the entire day) and then moved on to shouting something else.
That moment even made its way into today’s Boston Herald (below). I have to say it was a shining moment in a rather upsetting and overwhelming day. Not bad for a nice Jewish girl.
Excerpt from Article in the Boston Herald, March 12, 2004:
Activists clash in chants encounter
By Jack Meyers
“Before lawmakers even began debating a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, pro-ban activists struck up a chant: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” Gay rights supporters immediately began following each “Jesus” with “Loves Us.”
And that’s how it went all day inside the State House, as supporters and opponents of the ban contested the religious and patriotic ground surrounding the hotly debated issue… “
Robyn Ochs 