Patrick to join march for gay pride
This weekend, on the eve of what could be a historic and final vote on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick will become the first sitting governor in state history to march in Boston's gay pride parade, according to organizers.
Patrick, who marched in the last two Boston pride parades as a candidate for governor, has been working to help defeat a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which the Legislature is scheduled to vote on at a constitutional convention next week.
Patrick appeared last night at an event sponsored by the advocacy group MassEquality, featuring prominent lawyers who oppose the amendment. The governor once again defended gay marriage as a matter of basic equality, but he also made a pragmatic argument in favor of defeating the same-sex marriage ban.
"Even if you don't agree with us about the rightness of the question, smart political people have got to appreciate . . . if we don't put this question to rest at the con-con, this is all we will do for the next two years," Patrick said. "And there is an awful lot of other business, important to you and everyone else here in the commonwealth about strengthening this economy and our public schools and our healthcare system that demands the attention of the folks on Beacon Hill."
Organizers of the pride parade, scheduled for Saturday, say they are pleased Patrick will make this year's march a historic occasion.
"For us, it symbolizes the progressiveness we've got in Massachusetts," said Linda DeMarco, president of the board of directors of the Boston Pride Committee. "Nobody is ashamed to march straight on, shoulder to shoulder with us."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino will also march in this year's parade, as he has throughout his tenure as mayor, DeMarco said.
Patrick's position on gay marriage starkly contrasts with that of Governor Mitt Romney , who campaigned against same-sex marriage in what was widely seen as an attempt to build his conservative credentials during the last two years of his tenure, while he explored a run for president. In a television ad for his presidential campaign last month, Romney boasted that he "stood up for traditional marriage" while governor.
Patrick, by contrast, built a large network of support in the gay community in his campaign last year, and he regularly appears at events sponsored by gay rights groups. At the moment, he and his aides are spending a large portion of their time trying to gather the votes to defeat the same-sex marriage ban next week. Last night Patrick left open the possibility that a vote could be delayed beyond next Thursday, if the votes are not in place to defeat it.
One supporter of the amendment shrugged off the governor's appearances at gay-related events this week, but he complained about Patrick's efforts to defeat the gay marriage ban, which will go on the 2008 ballot if it gets at least 50 votes at the constitutional convention.
"He can go where he wants; it's his prerogative," said former state representative Philip Travis, Democrat of Rehoboth, who plans to watch the Constitutional Convention in the House chamber. "But he is running away from the issue at hand. Let the people vote, and the only way they can vote is if the Legislature makes that decision." 