Showdown over same-sex marriage
Opponent may attend forum for Unitarians
Area residents are bracing for a showdown between supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage if and when they meet up at a Unitarian church in Wakefield Sunday.
Two of the most vocal leaders of the fight against a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage will update the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield at 6 p.m. Sunday. They are state Representative Michael Festa of Melrose, one of the legislators leading the fight against the amendment, and Whitinsville teacher Gary Chalmers, one of the seven plaintiffs in the landmark state Supreme Judicial Court ruling last November to allow same-sex marriages in Massachusetts as of May 17.
Opponents led by the Rev. Michael Carl, pastor of the Greenwood Union Church in Wakefield and president of the Heritage Alliance, a group against same-sex marriage, are expected to show up and express their views on the controversial subject. Carl, who has been an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriages, said he is unsure whether he will attend. "If I went, I certainly wouldn't be preaching to the choir. I would expect that most of these people have already made their minds up on this issue and one thing I've learned is that when people have strong feelings about something like this, it's very difficult to change their minds," he said.
While there are some 70 congregants of the Unitarian Universalist Church, officials are expecting a crowd of about 200, including Carl, according to church member Elizabeth Lowry.
''Oh, he'll show," Lowry predicted of Carl, a Texas native who lives in Lynn. ''He's fire-and-brimstone, very vocal on the subject and he's not shy about expressing them. He has before and I expect he will again."
The Rev. Edmund Robinson, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church, who has been an outspoken supporter of gay marriages, said he asked Festa and Chalmers to ''update the congregation and the community" on the issue, which is expected to be debated again in the 2005-06 legislative session and possibly go to a voter referendum in November 2006.
Robinson said he did not invite Carl to Sunday's meeting, though he said it is open to the public and ''he is welcome to attend and certainly will be given an opportunity to speak." Robinson said if Carl does attend and speak, the two ministers could continue the debate they engaged in last month on Wakefield Community Access Television, the local cable channel. Festa was asked to moderate that debate but, soon after it began, found himself siding with Robinson against Carl.
Festa, who was one of the legislators working to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages and establish civil unions, said he is prepared to debate Carl again.
''I'm prepared for a good old-fashioned debate," Festa said. ''I sincerely believe that education is the key to winning support for gay marriages. We've already had some great debate in the Legislature and, as members got more educated about the implications of the amendment, we did much better." Though the Legislature passed the amendment last month on a 105-92 vote, Festa said support for gay marriage grew from 63 to 92 votes as the legislative debate continued.
A Boston Globe poll in February found that 53 percent of Massachusetts residents opposed gay marriage and 60 percent supported civil unions. In addition, 71 percent of respondents said they wanted voters -- not the courts or the Legislature -- to define marriage.
Festa, a former Middlesex County prosecutor who has served in the House of Representatives since 1999, said he would fight against a statewide referendum on gay marriage.
''A ballot is not the way we should decide an issue that affects a minority population," Festa said. ''The majority shouldn't be deciding for the minority. That's why we have laws and that's why we have legislatures."
Last month Carl filed a citizens petition that would ask state voters in 2008 to ban gay marriages and civil unions. His Heritage Alliance organization recruits political candidates to run against politicians who support gay marriage. 