You can see Marilyn’s photographs from the June 14 Constituttional Convention by going to these links:
 http://www.mhimages.net/070614cc1/index.htm http://www.mhimages.net/070614cc2/index.htm http://www.mhimages.net/070614cc3/index.htm
These images show the power of democracy. With thousands of LGBT people and their allies watching, the Massachusetts legislature voted 151-45 to kill a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Posted in civil rights, photographs
Pat Gozemba (left) of Salem was embraced by David Wilson, one of the original plaintiffs in the landmark same-sex marriage lawsuit. The pair celebrated after the vote outside the House chamber. (Boston Globe photo John Tlumacki)
June 14, 2007 will become a historic day in the annals of equality in this state and in this country. Gov. Deval Patrick said it right. “This is not just a great day for marriage equality–it’s a great day for equality.”
It was a thrill to celebrate with Dave Wilson and with the thousands of marriage equality supporters who came to the State House for this nerve-wracking but historic day.
All of us in the LGBT community and our allies who have spent countless hours and days working on this issue feel grateful to the 151 legislators (75% +1) who voted for equality. New profiles in courage emerged!
Check our blog later for more photos by Marilyn Humphries.
Posted in civil rights, Massachusetts, photographs
| Since the 1980s, photographer Marilyn Humphries has been documenting progressive movements. Her camera has brought Bay Windows readers to the front lines of the fight for LGBT equality from the early days of the AIDS epidemic to the advent of civil marriage rights. The photos of the latter — her award-winning photographs of the struggle for marriage equality in Massachusetts — have been collected in the recently published book Courting Equality from Beacon Press. With a history of the movement written by Patricia A. Gozemba and Karen Kahn to accompany Humphries’s historic photos, the book is a moving and invaluable time capsule. Humphries found some time between the book launch and photo assignments to talk with Bay Windows about sharing her eyes with the world. An excerpt appears below. For the full interview.Q: You must be very busy these days. A: It’s really nice to have a few moments to just think about things instead of the next task. I feel like ever since November of 2003 I’ve been on the hamster wheel from hell, as so many of us have been. And adding the book on to that was like, how much more can you take? Q: Covering the Constitutional Conventions must be a real marathon. Q: How do you get through it? Q: You’ve had a unique view of the marriage fight. Q: Is it hard to cover, when you have a personal stake? Q: What about happier events, like the first marriage licenses? I remember I was at Cambridge City Hall when they had the first registrants for gay marriage licenses, and I was just overwhelmed. I couldn’t imagine having to work, too.
Q: How did the book come about? Q: Is there another boo coming? Q: And hopefully the book will have a ripple effect across the country. Q: How did you get started? Q: And lucky to have someone to record them. |
Posted in about authors, civil rights, photographs
It’s hard to deny someone their happiness.That’s the thinking behind Pat Gozemba and Karen Kahn’s new book “Courting Equality,” which uses the photos of Beverly photographer Marilyn Humphries to tell the history of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. The Salem couple will be at Cornerstone Books this Thursday to sign copies.
“The photos really inspired us to write the book,” Kahn said. “We hadn’t been thinking about writing a book about this. When we saw the photos, we realized what an incredible documentation of a historic moment it was.”
Besides the familiar images of activists demonstrating at the Statehouse, the glossy coffee-table book also features dozens of portraits of blushing brides and grooms engaged in all the rites of marriage – from cutting the cake to catching the bouquet to dancing with family and friends.
“I hope that people will see the great joy and security that has become part of the lives of same-sex couples because of the benefit of marriage being granted in Massachusetts,” Gozemba said. “And I hope it will open people’s minds to see the inequities and prejudices that have kept us from this benefit for so many years.”
Gozemba, a retired Salem State College English professor, and Kahn, an editor, have lived together for 15 years. It wasn’t until they began working on “Courting Equality” in March 2005, however, that these Willows residents decided to get married.
“Until we started working on the book, we weren’t convinced that marriage was really important for us,” Gozemba said. “Afterward, we realized how many protections that are really critical to people’s lives are afforded through marriage. Working on the book and doing research convinced us we should get married.”
The couple were married at Cambridge City Hall on Sept. 1, 2005, though they took out their marriage application at Salem City Hall.
Working together on the book was “really fun,” Kahn said. The couple collaborated once before on Gozemba’s 2001 book “Pockets of Hope,” a collection of inspiring stories about community teaching that Kahn edited. This is the first time they have co-authored a book.
“We had a wonderful time writing the book together,” Kahn said. “We really respect each other’s opinions. Pat worked as a professor, I was an editor for many years. It’s easy for us to work with each other.”
They never pictured themselves writing a coffee-table book, but the photos speak for themselves, they said.
“We did it because we feel that the photos are so impressive that even if a person just looks through and reads the photo captions, they will get the message of the book,” Gozemba said. “We felt the photos were that powerful.”
Posted in about authors, book launch, civil rights
CE authors were happy to discover that their op-ed on marriage equality ran in The Columbian, a local newspaper in the not-so-blue region of southern Washington State. Here’s the text:
 Three years ago on May 17, lesbian and gay residents of Massachusetts filed for the
first legal marriage licenses in the United States.
   With marriage equality, nearly 9,000 Massachusetts same-sex couples have wed in civil or religious ceremonies since 2004. Hundreds of thousands of people from across the nation have witnessed our weddings.
   Many of us married because we wanted to symbolize our love and commitment, to protect our families in times of crisis, to access benefits — such as family health insurance, hospital visitation rights and joint property rights. We also married because we wanted to give our children more security and to proclaim to our
communities our status as families.
   Same-sex marriage is a success in Massachusetts. The sky has not fallen. Massachusetts continues to lead the country with one of the lowest divorce rates of any state — 2.5 percent — according to Census data.
   And nearly 800 religious leaders in the state have signed a declaration supporting same-sex marriage.
   Moreover, no clergy members have been forced to marry any couples whom they did not choose to recognize as worthy of marriage according to the dictates of their religion.
   Yet, a well-funded right-wing religious coalition persists in trying to undo our civil rights by bringing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage to the ballot in 2008. Other such amendments have passed in 26 states.
   The group offers only religious arguments for ending same-sex civil marriage and it insists that the “people deserve to vote.”
   But since when in our democracy does the majority vote on the civil rights of a minority? Would anyone suggest that people vote on whether interracial marriage should be banned once again?
   On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional, setting into motion a movement to ensure full equality for African-Americans.
   Fifty years later on May 17, 2004, same-sex couples filed for the first legal marriage licenses in this country.
   The symmetry of these anniversaries is not lost on the lesbian and gay community.   Same-sex couples should not tolerate “separate but equal” civil unions. Second-class citizenship is neither fair nor right. It certainly is not what we value as American citizens.
Posted in civil rights, Massachusetts
ACLUM’s commitment to Courting Equality is but one example of the pivotal behind-the-scenes role the organization has played in the struggle to achieve and preserve marriage equality in Massachusetts. It’s a commitment that stretches back to the 1990s, when ACLUM lobbyist Norma Shapiro represented the organization in what was known as the “Group of Groups,” an informal coalition of LGBT and allied organizations that was planning, strategizing and negotiating to advance the cause of legal recognition for same-sex couples in the state legislature. Initially the Groups’ focus was domestic partnership legislation; in the early 2000s it shifted to civil unions. Along the way, they also fended off attempts to pass DOMA legislation. Most notably, they helped coordinate the strategy in which legislators, led by then-Senate President Tom Birmingham, killed the anti-gay constitutional amendment via parliamentary maneuvering at a 2002 constitutional convention. More
Posted in civil rights
Courting Equality 