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| Petitions
for Marriage Go ‘Over-the-Top’
December 2001 The number of signers for the Protection of Marriage Amendment has gone “over the top.” Over 60,000 had been collected when MassNews went to press although only 57,100 are required to get the issue on the ballot. This happened even though the signers were illegally and physically harangued every day by trained harassers who violated their voting rights in an organized manner. “This shows that the violent, illegal efforts of the activists cannot stop this movement to protect the children of the state,” said Bryan Rudnick, Chairman of Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Justice Department are investigating incidents of harassment against those circulating and signing the pro-marriage petitions. The best kept secret of the petition campaign is that many thousands of signatures have been collected across Massachusetts by ordinary people at work, by going door-to-door in their neighborhood or at their club or church socials. “My sister operates a very busy coffee shop near here,” a woman said recently between services at an Evangelical church in Essex County. “A lot of people were talking about the radio ads. She had a petition next to the register.” Another woman took advantage of the Veterans Day holiday to go to a college in Worcester County and collect signatures with a group of students. “It was a better use of the time than going shopping,” the woman said. “The students were enthusiastic, approaching their friends to sign the pro-marriage petitions.” A couple in Cape Cod called the manager of their local Wal-Mart to get permission to collect signatures in front of his store. They spent several hours near the store’s front entrance and got nearly 200 signers.
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