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By Dinah Cardin, Salem Gazette, Friday, April 28, 2006
Salem—Karen Kahn and Pat Gozemba have only been married since last September, but they know the history of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts backwards and forwards. That’s why they are writing a book on the subject.
Scheduled for release in May of 2007, "Courting Equality: Photographs from the Gay Marriage Frontlines" (Beacon Press) chronicles the struggle that began in November of 2003 with the state Supreme Court’s decision to allow same-sex marriage.
The book has 110 photos, taken by Beverly photographer Marilyn Humphries with the Boston gay and lesbian publication, Bay Windows.
While writing the political and historical text, Kahn and Gozemba capture the impassioned words of legislators on the State House floor, and offer portraits of families created by the allowance of same-sex marriage. It is a glimpse of those, says Kahn, who simply want to express their love for each other and create stability in their relationship.
"For people who are against it, they forget it’s about people who love each other, and it becomes this abstract ideological thing," she says.
Both Kahn, former editor of a feminist newspaper in Boston, and Gozemba, a retired English and women’s studies professor at Salem State College, believe this fight is no different than the African-American fight for equal education, or the right to marry someone of a different race.
If both of these issues had gone before the American people on a ballot so many decades ago, or perhaps even today, they probably would have been defeated, say the couple.
That’s why these two Salem residents are against seeing the issue on the 2008 ballot as a vote that could determine the future of their relationship.
Legislators will vote whether to do this at the Constitutional Convention May 10. The issue requires 50 votes to go on to the next convention in 2007. Gozemba says she fears those votes are there.
Many legislators might not be against same-sex marriage outright, but might think a vote of the people is how democracy works, adds Kahn.
"Whenever you take the rights of a minority and you put those rights before the majority, then I think that goes against the spirit of America, which is to protect minorities," says Gozemba.
It’s no different, she says, than the immigration issue in this country. Americans could vote to send all immigrants back to their home countries, without thinking about the logistics or how it affects those people.
State Rep. John Keenan says he also suspects the votes will be there in the Constitutional Convention, but not from him.
"Our Constitution is not a place for discrimination," he says, "especially for one of the most personal and powerful decisions one will make - whom to marry. In the two years it has been legal, I do not think the institution of marriage has been harmed in any way.
"Indeed, it has brought nothing but happiness to many couples who now, for the first time, have the ability to make the biggest commitment in their lives. A founding principle of our Constitution is the protection of the minority against the tyranny of the majority."
If Massachusetts voters go against same-sex marriage, existing same-sex marriages might be allowed to stand, says Gozemba, or they could be considered annulled.
Then there is the struggle of what happens to people like their neighbors in the Willows, who adopted two Guatemalan children. Technically, the couple could have a legal relationship with the children, but not to each other if same-sex marriage is rejected.
Like Bob Murch and Gary Halteman, (see related story) these people are included in the book that aims to put a face on the gay and lesbian community for those who don’t already have friends, family members or co-workers who are part of the 7,500 Massachusetts same-sex couples who married since it became legal.
In Salem, Kahn and Gozemba - who have been together for 15 years - say they have not received any negativity. Their neighbors were supportive of their wedding on the steps of Cambridge City Hall and of the celebratory party in their home.
If anything, they feel the state’s residents are influenced by the right-wing conservatives who bombard the State House every time the issue flares. They blame organizations like Focus on the Family and the Traditional Values Coalition, which has a Web site likening homosexuality to pedophilia and offers counseling to treat the "disorder" of being gay or lesbian.
These two have watched the fireworks in Boston before, but believe that if this goes to a vote, things will get ugly.
"I think it’s going to unleash a really hateful campaign in Massachusetts," says Gozemba, adding that the controversy will cause the most suffering for the children of same-sex couples and for gay and lesbian young people.
Keenan says he, too, foresees a negative and divisive campaign in 2008, should the issue get onto the ballot.
"I am concerned about its impact on families, relationships and, especially, the children of gay and lesbian couples who will, unfortunately, be front and center," he says.
Still, when asked if they ever thought they would see same-sex marriage allowed in their lifetimes, both women emphatically say "No" in unison, and voice their thanks to those who fought for it.
"I was stumped," says Gozemba. "It was amazing."
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