Hundreds of gay marriage advocates flooded the streets near Boston Common Tuesday to voice their support for same-sex marriage.
Members of MassEquality and its supporters gathered to protest a proposed constitutional amendment that would outlaw same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. Lawmakers could vote on the amendment as early as today.
Protesters assembled inside the Statehouse for the afternoon rally, but most were turned away at the gate by security for safety reasons, according to Department of Conservation and Recreation representative Joe Ferraro. He added that the venue was not suited for the “couple of thousand” people who attended.
However, those unable to enter remained in the streets in a show of solidarity. Police directed traffic as numerous television news crews swarmed around demonstrators, microphones in hand. Opponents of same-sex marriage led a similar rally Sunday.
Lines of protesters snaked around a block of Beacon Street as drivers passing by contributed honks and encouraging nods, yielding applause from the crowd. Demonstrators held signs ranging from the light-hearted “Let me eat cake!” to the straightforward “No discrimination in the constitution.”
Linda Zimmerman, a long-time supporter of same-sex unions and a self-proclaimed “eternal optimist,” found encouragement in the number of people who showed support.
“People were positive, energized,” Zimmerman said. “It was wonderful.”
Others said they attended to make sure their voices were heard.
Second-year Harvard Divinity School graduate student Nicole Sotello said she came to the rally to “make sure word gets out.” She added that gay marriage is not a religious issue.
“We feel that there are religious leaders who are speaking out against gay marriage,” she said. “But there are many religious leaders very much in favor of it.”
Shirley Mulford, director of administration at Harvard’s Memorial Church, agreed.
“Many of the major churches,” she said, such as the First Church, “are led by gays or lesbians.”
A broad variety of protesters joined MassEquality for the demonstration. The crowd, adorned in everything from business suits to dreadlocks and rainbow-colored gay pride flags, united in chants for equal rights and verses of “We Shall Overcome.”
Several Boston-area high school students attended the protest instead of classes.
“I don’t think it’s frowned upon,” said Steven Grant, a Cambridge Latin School student. “I think they’d definitely rather us skipping to do this than anything else.”
Rayna Edwards, a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Cambridge Latin School, said that even though she does not plan to marry anytime soon, she hopes to be able to in the future.
Rios Tagiuri of Commonwealth High School added that the state has not responded to the controversy as he had expected.
“I thought Massachusetts was really liberal, but I went to a debate last night at Harvard and there are a lot more people opposing then supporting,” he said.
While protesters remained united in their desire to defend same-sex marriage, many said they believe the amendment will pass.
“I have a hope,” said Erika Bourne, who, with her 4-year-old daughter by her side, carried a sign reading “Let my moms marry.”
“But I’m not terribly optimistic,” she said.
Gay marriage supporters will make another pilgrimage to the Statehouse at 2 p.m. today in a last attempt to sway lawmakers before the vote.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
