Familiar names on 1913 law petition
Bay Windows received a copy of the original petition filed by MassResistance from Attorney General Martha Coakley's office. Entitled "Act Relative to Certain Marriage Laws," its purpose is to allow voters to weigh in on a law passed last month "to repeal certain laws prohibiting certain non-residents from marrying in the commonwealth," according to the petition's original language. The petition was signed by the following ten people:
Robert G. O'Brien of Milton
Eva Burbank Murphy of Boston
John O'Gorman of Winthrop
C. Joseph Doyle of Roxbury
Ed Sharib of Natick
Robert Montgomery Thomas of Weymouth
Richard R. Gregoire of Ashburnham
David Parker of Lexington
Tonia Parker of Lexington
Caroline M. Kneeland of Groton
A number of those listed above are well-known anti-gay activists. C.J. Doyle is the executive director of the Catholic Action League, a right-wing Roman Catholic group that has been involved in numerous anti-gay efforts in Massachusetts in recent years. In addition, David and Tonia Parker have been in the news for their high-profile crusade against the Lexington Public Schools for being inclusive of LGBT families in their classroom reading materials.