Do ye know thy anti-gay neighbors?
According to an article published by the Brockton News (Mass), the marriage equality website Knowthyneighbor.org has posted all 123,356 names of the persons who signed the petition effort to have marriage equality repealed in Massachusetts.
Knowthyneighbor.org has a put together a database of all the names and has also included the home addresses of the signers. According to the article, the “database is searchable by first name, last name, home town, and ZIP code, and offers visitors a ‘fraud affidavit’ to use ‘if your name is listed and you believe you were a victim of petition fraud’.”
According to the article:
Supporters of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts shattered a 20-year-old record for the most certified signatures ever gathered in support of a proposed ballot question.
The proposed amendment is intended to overrule a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision that legalized same-sex “marriage” as of May 2004. An estimated 6,500 homosexual couples have since “married” in the state.
If approved by voters, the amendment would require the state to define marriage “only as the union of one man and one woman.” This would prohibit homosexual “marriage” after 2008, but would not affect established homosexual “marriages.”
Kristian Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which spearheaded the signature drive, told the Boston Globe, “The people have not just spoken, they have shouted to let the people vote on the definition of marriage.”
The listing of names has been attacked by those who signed the petition but it is perfectly legal, as the petition is a piece of public record.
The Knowthyneighbor.org database of signers is available at:
http://knowthyneighbor.org/thelist.php
Technorati Tags: gay marriage, gay, lgbt, gay rights, know thy neighbor, massachusetts, massachusetts family institute
Matt, 21, is an LGBT activist and youth advocate working mainly within the cities of Greensboro & Winston-Salem and the State of North Carolina. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14, now currently serving as the Executive Director/Co-founder of Activate! - The North Carolina Advocacy Coalition.
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