Deception by gay marriage foes involves more than stolen signatures
Letter to the editor, Salem News | February 21, 2006
To the Editor:
Kris Mineau can wave his hands over the bigotry and fraud that lies at the heart of the anti-gay marriage petition and say "hocus pocus" ("Some would deny citizens their right to vote on gay marriage," letter to the editor, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006) all he wants, but the people of Massachusetts will not be fooled.
It is clear to anyone willing to look at the ugly truth: VoteOnMarriage, the organization Mineau represents, exists to spread hatred of gay families and will stop at nothing to deny those families any recognition under our laws. No marriage, no civil unions, no nothing. To them, any form of legal recognition for gay families is unacceptable, because they see gay couples and their children as sources of evil that will destroy our society.
VoteOnMarriage Chairman Roberto Miranda, in his Master Plan to reclaim the state of Massachusetts for Jesus Christ, equates gay marriage with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, claiming that "on Sept. 11, 2001, Boston served as the point of departure for the deadly forces that spread so much destruction and havoc in this nation and all over the world? What took place at the material level is now being carried out at the moral and spiritual level, as the virus of homosexuality and gay marriage begins to spread dramatically all over this nation and perhaps the world."
James Dobson of Colorado-based Focus on the Family, a major sponsor of this "Massachusetts" petition, stated on "Larry King Live" that marriage equality will "destroy the family, which will destroy the nation, and I think eventually have a major impact on Western civilization."
Petition backer Archbishop Sean O'Malley has referred to the legal recognition of love between same-sex couples as a "national tragedy."
And Mineau has posted this on his homepage: "When your children and grandchildren ask you in 20 years, 'What did you do when marriage was under attack?' don't you want to be able to tell them that you stood up to the forces of evil and did your part to protect marriage? Or do you want to say that I stayed on the sidelines and allowed marriage to be destroyed?"
Well, I know what I am going to tell my kids: As a straight man with a family, I was proud to stand up for the families of my gay friends and help defend them from an attack by religious extremists who would take their rights away.
I urge your readers not to be fooled by the devious spin of Kris Mineau. He preys on your apathy, betting that most of you won't bother to look past his bold-faced lies. He says he is out to "protect marriage," but his real aim is to punish the gay community for daring to ask that their families be protected equally under the law. This disgraceful cause is made worse by the fact that the signatures of many citizens have been stolen to help it advance.
My organization, a 100-percent volunteer group run by a few North Shore residents, is proud to be standing up against the hatred and fear being spread by the VoteOnMarriage machine and the multi-million-dollar, anti-gay groups that are funding them from around the nation.So rest assured, Mr. Mineau, we will continue our fight to protect the rights of ALL families as long as groups like yours are fighting to take them away.
Aaron Toleos, Director
KnowThyNeighbor.org
Boxford
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