the anti-democracy caucus

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 09, 2005

"Today Tom Reilly threw the entire gay community in front of the bus at the altar of his political aspirations." That's Arline Isaacson of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, talking about the state's Attorney General. 'We are stunned and horrified by the cowardly nature of this crassly political decision," she continued. "It's a disgrace, a shame."

What did Tom Reilly do to cause this meltdown? (And just by the way, what's the bus doing at the altar. But let's not look too closely at the rhetorical images here; there are larger issues at stake.)

He ruled that it is not illegal to vote against same-sex marriage.

Really.

In Massachusetts, when citizens petition to change a law (or in this case the constitution), the Attorney General must certify that the proposed change is itself appropriate matter for a referendum vote. Pro-family activists are proposing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a man-woman alliance, and the gay-rights lobby doesn't want the people to vote on that question. So they asked Reilly to find a reason-- any reason-- to prevent a vote. Try as he might, Reilly couldn't find a pretext.

So the people of Massachusetts may yet have a chance to vote on the definition of marriage. And the gay-rights lobby-- which, oddly, generally aligns itself with the "Democratic" party-- is furious.