Events during 2009-MAR illustrating
cultural shifts about sexual minorities

"...to achieve full equality for the LGBT community. Our premise is simple: we believe that every LGBT person deserves to be treated equally, to be safe, and to be free from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression." ₂

They have enlarged their mandate to include seeking marriage equality in all of the New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Connecticut and Massachusetts. They have only four states to go. They state:

"MassEquality is joining forces with Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and state-wide organizations to secure marriage equality in every New England state within the next five years."

"Marriage equality is protected in Massachusetts for the foreseeable future - but that's not enough. It's time loving, same-sex couples in other states had access to the same rights and protections of marriage that non-gay couples enjoy. And it's time that Massachusetts no longer be the only state in the nation with true equality in marriage."

"Working hand-in-hand with GLAD and our partner equality organizations in each state, we're ready to win equality in New England." ₃

Also on 2009-MAR-25, Governor Jim Douglas (R) said that he would veto the bill if it is passed by the House. However, his veto could be overturned by the state legislature if there is a 2/3 majority in favor of the bill in both the House and Senate. ₈

 

"I am personally supportive of (marriage) equality for gay couples, and I believe it will happen over time. I think that more and more Americans are insistent that, at a minimum, gay couples should be treated with respect ... when they see a political party trying to stigmatize a group of people who are hardworking, who play by the rules, who raise decent families, they?re troubled by it."

"One of the most tragic things in the world (is) when people are closeted and are denied their sexuality and this incredibly important part of their lives and the destructive potential of that action. I?ve come to believe over time that, as Dick Cheney said, freedom for everybody means freedom for everybody." ₁₀

"I think the Republican Party should not be seen by a broad majority of the electorate as focused with singularity on issues like gay marriage. The attitudes of voters about gay marriage and about domestic partnership benefits for gay couples are changing very rapidly and for voters under the age of 30, they are completely disconnected from what has been Republican orthodoxy on these issues." ₁₁

A common thread running through the stories of many supporters of gay rights is that they have a close gay friend or a homosexual relative. In Schmidt's case, it is his lesbian sister that helped mold his beliefs about same-sex marriage. Schmidt voted against Prop. 8 in California.

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