Yesterday, my family and I went into Hartford to see The Triplets of Belleville that was showing at a local college. We weren’t sure which route through the city to take and ended up following the posted route. Well, within two blocks, I knew we weren’t taking the most efficient route, but it’d been some years since I visited the college and didn’t remember well enough what the efficient routen was. But within another block, I was glad for having taken the protracted route because we wound up stuck in protest traffic. Protest against gay marriage, that is.
Over 3,000 people were in the process of gathering at the state capitol building to openly oppose gay marriage. Over 3,000 people. On hilltop, in bitterly cold wind.
Over 3,000 people, more than in Boston, mobilized entirely by area churches of various denominations. And it led me understand just how sermonized the issue has become. Those opposed to gay marriage simply aren’t going to let my friends and relatives achieve a secular path to equal rights. To them, there is no distinction between religious convenant and secular law.
I’ve cared about equal rights for my loved ones and friends for some time now but, I must admit, I haven’t done much about it beyond educating my kids and blogging my advocacy. What I witnessed yesterday ended my complacency. I’m calling my local chapter of Love Makes a Family today. I’m not armchairing my beliefs anymore.
Where Saint Patrick’s Day was once the critical mass for gay visibility in a het world, now Valentine’s Day is likely to become the illustrative day in which both sides of gay marriage will take a stand, what with both Freedom to Marry Week and, at least locally, Marriage Protection Week on the docket.
I have done one thing right, though. As my kids and I watched the evening news coverage of the gathering and as I declared enough was enough, my daughter turned to me and said, “I’ll make posters for you, Mom.” Compassion also makes a family.
Note: Usually, I resist linking to newspapers where you have to sign up to read their content, but this subject matters. Please consider giving yourself access to this issue. Go to the Boston.com link and read the related articles, many of which were published over the weekend. Go to NPR and listen to the discussion.
