David Whacks Goliath Again: Pro-family legislators win in Massachusetts

All twelve of the state legislature candidates targeted for defeat by the national homosexual lobby won their elections this month — setting the stage for the next round of Massachusetts' ongoing battle over "gay marriage."

"We're feeling good," said Brian Camenker, director of the Article 8 Alliance, the day after Election Day.

Article 8, a grassroots citizens' group with one rented office, four full-time volunteers, and a $40,000 war chest going into the election, has led the drive to abolish "gay marriage" in Massachusetts — the only state that recognizes it.

"We had no intent to get involved in the elections," Camenker said, "until we saw the gays pumping in these enormous sums of money. We raised $40,000 to pay for mailings, organized demonstrations, rallies, and phone banks, and put in an awful lot of hours."

Camenker cited reports by The Boston Globe that homosexual groups spent more than $1 million in Massachusetts this year — $650,000 by the Human Rights Campaign (Washington, D.C.) and $700,000 by an in-state homosexual action group, Mass Equality. The money paid for "hundreds of campaign workers, a lot of them from out of state," Camenker said.

The Bill of Address

Article 8's object is to move through the legislature a bill of address — a unique feature of the Massachusetts Constitution that allows a simple majority in the legislature to remove a judge from the bench for any reason it deems sufficient. Unlike an impeachment, a bill of address requires no specific grounds for removal.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts "legalized" same-sex "marriage" in May. Chief Justice Margaret Marshall had appeared previously at homosexual fundraising events where she gave public speeches pledging her support for "gay marriage." At one dinner she encouraged a homosexual activist lawyer to bring a "marriage" case to her court, where she promised they would win.

She kept that promise, assisted by three more justices on the seven-judge panel. Article 8 wants them removed for violating state rules of judicial conduct and for usurping the authority of the legislature.

Round 2, Coming Up

Opponents of the bill of address kept it from being put to a vote this year. Many legislators, Camenker said, were waiting to see what would happen in the elections before they committed themselves.

When the legislature comes back in session January 1, Article 8 will renew its lobbying efforts for a vote on the bill of address.

"It looks good," Camenker said. "The legislators know that eleven out of eleven states passed constitutional amendments protecting marriage, banning 'gay marriage.' Those guys [trying to defend 'gay marriage'] are on a sinking ship, and they know it.”

The national elections saw homosexual "marriage" constitutionally banned in eleven states, including liberal Oregon. Political pundits nationwide said voter backlash against "gay marriage" played a major role in President George W. Bush's re-election. A few columnists named Margaret Marshall as the single person most responsible for that backlash.

"We don't believe constitutions need to be amended," Camenker said. "The problem is not the Constitution — it's judges that don't follow the law. There's nothing in the Massachusetts Constitution that says we have to recognize homosexual 'marriages.' There never was."

Angry Libs

For a full breakdown of the Massachusetts legislative results, vis-a-vis the marriage issue, see http://www.article8.org/docs/a8_updates/A8_Latest_Update.htm, or visit the Article 8 website, www.article8.org, or see the November 4 report at www.massnews.com ("Victories Across Massachusetts").

"The liberals are furious," Camenker said. "They accuse us of being 'hateful.' There's nothing we've said that wasn't true, so they say, 'It's your tone.'"

One election that remains to be counted pitted Representative Vincent Ciampa, supported by Article 8, against homosexual activist Carl Sciortino. Sciortino defeated Ciampa in the primary election — in which Sciortino's strange personal history was not brought up as an issue — but Ciampa came back strong as a write-in candidate in the regular election. The results are expected to be announced this week, after a manual vote count.

Sciortino, a long-time activist with several homosexual groups, made news a few years ago when he and his "partner" disrupted a Catholic mass. Article 8 found a color photo of Sciortino and his "partner" posing in a church and mailed copies of it to every voter in the district — twice. (See the website for the picture.)

"We just asked people, 'Is this the kind of person you want representing you and your state?' Liberals didn't want anybody seeing that picture," Camenker said.