![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/gar2.jpg\")
Beacon
\n Hill was alive with the loud chanting and hoarse shouts of thousands
\n of demonstrators from both sides of the gay marriage
\n divide this afternoon, as
\n the Massachusetts
\n Legislature took up the issue they tabled last month, and the Dowbrigade
\n was there. The entire central downtown area, the Common and the Public
\n Garden, were abuzz, knots of placard carrying out-of-towners trying
\n to figure out where they were, militant gay couples in
\n color coordinated jumpsuits and jaunty berets, cops with dogs, cops
\n on horses, cops on motorcycles, tour busses, first aid tents, tables
\n with informative flyers and lots and lots of camera and notepad wielding
\n members of the press.<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/gaya.jpg\")
The original idea appeared to have been getting the two sides to organize
\n around separate areas of the Common, but the two crowds had become
\n so intermingled that it was impossible to decipher which side had started
\n out as anti-Gay marriage and which Pro. Small groups on all sides were
\n arguing and discussing the merits of their positions. Many of them
\n were discussing the issue quite rationally, and seemed to be actually listening
\n to each other. Some were arguing quite vociferously, and a few were
\n shouting. Considerable numbers were surrounded by larger bunches of
\n co-believers, and avoiding members of the opposition.<\/p>\n
The soundtrack was a cacophony of American protest; bull horns leading
\n chants, gospel hymns playing on a battery powered PA, shouts, cries
\n and curses, cheers and boos at unseen comings and goings. Hundreds
\n of signs. Everyone seemed to be on one side or another, or photographing
\n or interviewing those who were.<\/p>\n
Absurd conversations were overheard. A well-dressed, clean cut youth
\n who could have been a Mormon except he was missing a partner and
\n a name-shield was shouting at a smoldering young leather-clad Asian man,
\n "We have nothing against Gay people. We think that you should be allowed
\n to do whatever you want. Except get married. You are adults and
\n what you do behind closed doors is your business. But out in public
\n you should respect traditional families and children!"<\/p>\n
Biker-boy: "So what you’re saying is, you support sexual intercourse
\n outside of the sanctity of marriage?"<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/gayc.jpg\")
Unfortunately,
\n it looks like those who wanted an issue which could
\n confuse and divide America have found a doozy. Polls show most Americans
\n support equal rights for gays, including fully functioning "civil unions"
\n but
\n are against gay marriage. The problem is no one understands exactly
\n what the difference is, or how it will influence people to vote in November.
\n The Democrats are shitting bricks because while there are enough gays
\n in the United States to swing a close election most of them would vote
\n Democratic anyway, and lots of voters in key states would be turned off
\n by a full-bore endorsement of gay marriage.<\/p>\n
It is all so ridiculous, at least to the Dowbrigade, that the elusive
\n national unity is about to be torpedoed by the difficulty in defining
\n a single word, and that gays are about to sacrifice their biggest step
\n out of the closet since Ancient Greece from a stubborn refusal to compromise
\n on a single letter.<\/p>\n
Public opinion in the United States towards homosexuals has evolved
\n remarkably during the Dowbrigade’s lifetime. When we were kids "queers"
\n and "fags" were linguistically equivalent to "Japs" and "Nazis". Fighting
\n words. Now they have their own fashions, resorts and TV shows, and demonstrably
\n better taste than the rest of us.<\/p>\n
In the proposed solutions to the gay marriage problem, at least here
\n in Massachusetts, gays have been offered complete equality in every aspect
\n of legal, financial and social approbation endowed by marriage. They
\n are being offered a complete and stereotype-shattering victory, a revolutionary
\n new role in the emerging America of the 21st century, and they are turning
\n it down over a linguistic snit.<\/p>\n
Here is the exact wording from the proposed ammendment approved today
\n by the Mass legislature: "Civil unions for same sex couples are established
\n hereunder and shall provide entirely the same benefits, protections,
\n rights, and responsibilities that are afforded to couples married under
\n Massachusetts law. All laws applicable to marriage shall also apply to
\n civil unions."<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/gayd.jpg\")
What’s
\n in a name? Really, what difference would it make if it was called a "garriage"
\n when the two people are the same sex and a "marriage" when
\n they are not. What’s so great about the "M" word, anyway? Our personal
\n opinion is that the word "marriage" has been so misused and maligned
\n that gays should be delighted to start over with a clean linguistic slate
\n and a word
\n like "Garriage". <\/p>\n
If Catholics or Evangicals find the idea of two men or two women uniting
\n in love so disturbing, then they needn’t sanction gay marriage in their
\n Church. Which,
\n in fact, is exactly what they do with divorce, and that doesn’t;t prevent
\n millions of Americans, non-Catholics and Catholics alike, from untying
\n the knot. Let the Church in Rome simply not recognize those marriages,
\n but why should they prevent a couple of Jews or atheists from formalizing
\n their commitment?<\/p>\n
However, gays must accept that many mentally challenged Americans may
\n balk at giving up their exclusive rights to the "M" word and leave them
\n that bone. They can afford to be magnanimous, they are getting everything
\n they have asked for and more.<\/p>\n
If they can’t handle compromising on a single little letter, the Dowbrigade
\n says Let them Live in Sin.<\/p>\n
all photos by the Dowbrigade<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beacon Hill was alive with the loud chanting and hoarse shouts of thousands of demonstrators from both sides of the gay marriage divide this afternoon, as the Massachusetts Legislature took up the issue they tabled last month, and the Dowbrigade … Continue reading