Two Gay Things About Massachusetts

I guess this falls in the rant class, but in a largely pleasant way this time. I was struck most recently by two phenomena centered in my state. Both show the inexplicable tenacity of anti-gay types, even in an allegedly liberal fort.

There is the MA governor having the audacity to promote marriage equality. Then there are the sumbling, lurching advances related to Northeast St. Paddy's Day parades.

Our governor is a Republican, albeit the MA flavor, fiscally conservative and socially liberal (but not too liberal and not in the progressive way...so there). Well then, in the past few days, Charlie Baker became the only Republican governor to sign the amicus brief presented to the SCOTUS by some in his party, favoring same-sex marriage. It is personal as well as political and moral for him. His gay brother married a man and Charlie is in the gay's-OK camp.

Thing is, this state GOP platform and the party's machers are notoriously anti-gay. I discuss whether he's likely to face more than scowls as a result.

Then to parades. It seems all of Ireland and most US cities are perfectly fine with homosexual groups marching in St. Patrick's parades, even where there is a separate Pride parade later in the year, as there is in both Boston and New York City. This year Boston's long-time anti-gay parade organizers voted to let two gay groups, one OUTVETS, as it sounds, march. New York, generally a decade or more ahead of Boston is struggling. A parade sponsor, NBC, wangled an exemption for its gay-employees' group. NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio called that for the tokenism it is and wouldn't march.

I talk about who did and didn't march in Boston and New York and what that may mean.

Honestly, these anti-gay types seem so silly.