"Why I changed my vote" Mass. Senator on same sex marriage. Beautiful!

[Hamlette]

In January at the end of the last legislative session, Representative Gale Candaras, a Democrat from Wilbraham, voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage. Candaras returned to the Legislature as a senator and changed her position, voting today against the same-sex marriage ban.

. . .

For me, what all this comes down to is this: Same gendered couples are taxpaying, law-abiding citizens, who are important community contributors, well-loved and well-respected by their families, friends, neighbors and employers. They deserve and are entitled to the same legal protections enjoyed by all others citizens of our state.
. . .

I also want to address directly one of the more contentious issues in this debate: Same gender couples have been adopting children and building families here in the Commonwealth for about twenty years. In many instances, same gendered couples have adopted children with severe challenges, children no one else wanted, and they have worked miracles with them. These children would have lived lives of despair without these families. This underscores how we cannot afford to marginalize any of our people; make anyone second-class citizens. We are all precious resources to each other, and to generations yet to come.

We have had a full and fair public discussion and debate, and today we must settle this matter so we can move on to other issues of equal and, perhaps, even greater import to our state. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that the finality of judgments is the concession we make to the shortness of life.

I have been most impressed by the number of individuals who have called me and asked me to change my vote because they have changed their minds. One grandmother told me she had changed her mind and wanted me to change my vote in case one of her grandchildren grew up to be gay or lesbian. She did not want any of her grandchildren to be denied the right to marry the person they love. This is exactly the legacy we will leave to generations beyond us, and the example we can set for the nation and, I daresay the world, which is certainly paying attention to what we do and say here today.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/06/one_lawmaker_in.html

(read the whole thing, I posted about half of it...it is inspiring...yeah...you know me...tearing up here)

[NMMNG]

1. Bravo

Equal rights and protections under the law. That's all we're asking.

[FloridaJudy]

2. Very cool.

People like this give me hope.

[Heidi]

3. Kick.

:kick:

[DeSwiss]

4. Absolutely beautiful....

She said it so beautifully and eloquently. My feelings exactly. Let's get this right (everywhere) and move on. Life is too short...

DeSwiss

[Jamastiene]

5. That's the truth.

"For me, what all this comes down to is this: Same gendered couples are taxpaying, law-abiding citizens, who are important community contributors, well-loved and well-respected by their families, friends, neighbors and employers. They deserve and are entitled to the same legal protections enjoyed by all others citizens of our state. "

So true. Bravo!

[OneBlueSky]

6. "In many instances, same gendered couples have adopted children with severe challenges, . . .

. . . children no one else wanted, and they have worked miracles with them. These children would have lived lives of despair without these families."

I can attest to this from personal experience . . . I've known gay couples who have adopted HIV/AIDS babies, developmentally disabled children, older kids with behavioral problems, kids cerebral palsy, even terminally ill kids . . . without these wonderful adoptive parents, these kids would have languished in institutions or been bounced from foster home to group home to, in some cases, incarceration . . .

while I myself haven't adopted, I did spend five years providing specialized foster care to severely delinquent teens who had bombed out of every placement they'd been in and were on the verge of going to juvenile detention . . . and in Massachusetts, no less . . . in every case, the kid turned out great . . .

these gay adoptive parents are a unique blessing for severely challenged kids, and their contributions should be loudly applauded . . .

[Maat]

18. This retired social worker appreciates your accomplishments with the kids.

I DID adopt, but mine was only 2 years old at the time.

Edited to add:
Blessings and wonderful energy to all the beloved souls who adopted kids, particularly the same-sex, committed couples with which I placed kids! The system could not have worked without them!

[Prophet 451]

7. There is hope

When even a politician can effectively say "I was wrong", there's some hope.

[radfringe]

8. Heard on the radio in PA

there's a bill going before the state legislature regarding the inclusion of Bi-gay-lesbian-transgender into the civil rights/discrimination statute.

listening to various callers into the radio show blather on about "special rights" and of course how it's against "God's laws" (i.e. bible) - it got me to thinking and motivated me to call in - sadly there wasn't enough time on the show for this topic to get to all the callers...

ennywhoo - what some of the callers don't realize that without an inclusion that addresses GENDER ORIENTATION - as straights they too can be fired from a job for being straight or kicked out of their homes for being straight.

Consider this scenario - I have a business, and someone comes in for a job, they are straight or perceived as being straight - I can refuse to hire them because they are straight and they have no recourse to address this form of discrimination. Or if hired, I can later fired them for being straight.

yes, Pennsylvania is an "at-will" employment state, meaning you can be fired/let go for no reason - however if I were to say "You're fired because you are of a different race, or "x" religion, or of "x" ethnicity etc." there is a legal recourse to address this - yet it's perfectly legal to say "You are fired because you are straight"

[Hamlette]

9. shameless kick n/t

[Richard Steele]

10. K&R

[dbackjon]

11. Awesome - this needs to be read by every American

[donco6]

12. PS. And God didn't strike us all dead after all.

Amen.

[Matariki]

13. beautiful. thanks for posting this.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. A truly GREAT speech. I hope that those words touch many of those in other states that are so

intransigent in their views against giving gays the same rights that the rest of the population enjoys.

[Dystopian]

15. It IS beautiful.....k&r.....

peace~

[fazoolius_2006]

16. kick

[JerseygirlCT]

17. That IS beautiful!

And says it all quite nicely.

I'll never be able to understand people who see it differently.

[racaulk]

19. Beautiful statement!

Moments like this really make me feel like we're on the right side of this debate and that I should be hopeful. Progress is being made, slowly but surely. One day, we too shall overcome.

:)

[Flatulo]

20. Here here! Common sense prevails!

We are all diminished when any of us is denied the rights that others enjoy.

[drmom]

21. Well said, yes, but it also seems so obvious...

...why is it taking people so long to see that we are all just people?

[Breeze54]

22. Glad to hear she woke up.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Pushed To The Left]

23. Great stuff!

Of course, the right wing radio hosts are furious. They are like dinosaurs screaming from the tarpits as they lose another battle in their divisive "culture war". Why is treating people equally and fairly considered such a controversial issue?

[dddem]

24. Thank you for posting this.

I just finished reading the article about the "Christian" lady who slapped a guy because he was against the ammendment to ban Gay marriage, and this restores my faith that most intelligent people ultimately do the right thing.
Also, I wanted this kicked for the weekend folks. Thanks!