"Right of gays to marry set for years to come"
That was the headline the Globe greeted me with. And a smile crossed my face. My mood immediately improved. For all her faults and excesses, Massachusetts is a bold leader in many progressive causes, and possibly unnoticed by many, yesterday she solidified her role as a "laboratory of democracy" (to borrow a term from the early 20th century Progressives) when it comes to expanding marriage rights.
Evidently, thanks in large part to the victory of more progressive state candidates in last year's legislative elections here, a measure to add a homophobic marriage amendment to the state constitution was defeated in a state constitutional convention. And it wasn't just defeated, it was denied validity swiftly and with minimal difficulty.
And the key to why was buried in one of the related stories below the fold.
"Personal stories changed minds"
Some constituents wrote [their legislators] saying that they had changed their minds, like the elderly woman who said she previously asked Candaras to support the ban. "But since then, Gale" the woman wrote, as Candaras told it, "this lovely couple, these two men, moved in next door to me and they have a couple of children and they're married, and they help me with my lawn. And if they can't be married in Massachusetts they're going to leave - and then who would help me with my lawn?"
Opposition to progressive ideas fails in the face of actual encounters with our neighbors. I ask myself where we would be today if every member of Congress was required to spend six hours sitting in the emergency room of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, or babysitting for a single mother working two minimum wage jobs, eating at a food stamp level, or even on patrol in Baghdad.
Progress happens because people make it happen. We can and will pull the country and the culture with us; the vanguards of human liberty and dignity always have. And in case you need proof, Massachusetts can provide that as well:
"It's a cultural change, and for older people, it is a difficult cultural change," she said. "But I think people are coming to understand the issue and coming to appreciate the fact that the world is changing...and that these people deserve to enjoy...the same rights of marriage."
And lest we forget, in our disdain for all things Yankee, both Massachusetts and Virginia are commonwealths. Both gave rise to the lions that founded our Republic (did you know that Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston?). We are siblings from birth, with all the attendant rivalries, but siblings nonetheless. And occasionally, even our annoying little brother has some great ideas.