Doing the right thing (legislators who stood up for marriage equality)

[kweerwolf]

(From Bay Windows - Six state legislators from around the country who took tough votes on marriage explain why they risked everything for equality)

It's been well-documented on these pages and elsewhere that the political and social landscape in Massachusetts has changed dramatically since last year's constitutional convention: more than 6000 same-sex couples have tied the knot, equal marriage supporters have consistently won resounding victories at the ballot box, polls show that the support for maintaining the Goodridge decision as the law of the land - now the majority opinion in the state - is increasing with the passage of time. Also, a handful of legislators who voted for the amendment last year have said they'll vote differently when the issue is put to a vote again on Sept. 14 - the most recent being Sens. Fred Berry (D-Peabody) and Joan Menard (D-Somerset). In short, a vote for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts is not a risky proposition.

Certainly, that's not the case in other parts of the country. Nationwide, state legislators who have voted against putting anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendments on the ballot were sometimes in the tiniest of minorities; others faced tough re-election challenges and lost their seats. With nothing to gain except knowing they did the right thing, these lawmakers - a handful of whom are profiled on these pages - refused to give in to the politics of division, discrimination and religious-right pressure. "I was very comfortable taking it," former Wisconsin state representative Joe Plouff, says of the career-ending vote he cast, "because it is, in my mind, in my heart, it's the morally correct thing to do. And I said to myself, 'Joe, if you lose your seat because of this, so be it. So be it.'"

Now that's political courage.

http://www.baywindows.com/media/paper328/news/2005/09/08/News/Doing.The.Right.Thing-979130.shtml