Twenty-five years ago, a key moment in gay rights fight

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/19/twenty-five-years-ago-key-moment-gay-rights-fight/I7MuYr7NDw40kf4gOoyi8L/story.html
The Boston Globe
Twenty-five years ago, a key moment in gay rights fight
By Jill Terreri Ramos, Globe Correspondent
November 20, 2014

Twenty-five years ago, many gays and lesbians were still closeted at work, and at home. But they were on the cusp of a landmark victory, one that would distinguish Massachusetts as a gay rights leader.

Becoming only the second state to pass a law protecting the employment and other rights of gays and lesbians was not only a result of earnest appeals to lawmakers, however. It was a 17-year battle that was at times nasty, personal, and full of political gamesmanship, according to those who lived it.

“This was all about politics, not about a wholesale conversion to fairness,” said Senator Michael Barrett, the bill’s primary sponsor.

On Nov. 15, 1989, Governor Michael S. Dukakis signed a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, credit, and access to restaurants and other businesses.... MORE