Still Running Off at the Keyboard

Talk of activist judges, civil rights and hot man-on-dog action dominated the highly anticipated return of Massachusetts’s hottest political spectacle, the Constitutional Convention. And this year’s edition was gayer than ever, with a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage biting the big one, 157-39.

After a stunning showing last year, all but a smattering of anti-gay protesters chose to sit this one out; one woman, who refused to be named because “They’ve targeted me and my kids personally,” explained her side’s absence thusly: “It’s pretty clear that the gays think they own the State House. They feel secure because they intimidate activists and corporations. They’re good at emotional appeals, intimidation and propaganda.”

One such intimidating fella, Cambridge’s Mike Tackett, contrasted this year’s gay atmosphere to that of last year. “It’s more lively, positive and excited,” he said. “People expect to win. Last year, we were really afraid we were going to lose.”

“I can’t see the other side,” he added. “Supposedly, they’re here. Aren’t they?”

Yes, they were, inside the State House’s Great Hall—all 15 or so of them, wearing “VoteOnMarriage.org” T-shirts, standing in a circle, praying and singing “God Bless America.” But in a stunning coup, the gays rushed to surround the prayer circle, shouting out their own version of “God Bless America,” then—in a dramatic flourish—doing “We Shall Overcome” as an encore.

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