A lot has changed in the city, state, and country since 1995, especially when it comes to gay rights. That was the year the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right of the organizers of the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston to pick and choose who they want to march down Broadway.
Since that time, Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage and 16 other states have joined in. Bans in a number of states are being ruled unconstitutional faster than a bagpipe brigade can march from P to O streets. Last year, the Supreme Court that gave Chester Darling and John “Wacko” Hurley the right to shun homosexuals on public streets dumped the Defense of Marriage Act that was passed the year after they won their case. An NFL draft prospect came out to the world this spring about his sexual orientation and Jason Collins last week became the first professional athlete to play in one of the nation’s four major professional sports. (It’s interesting to note that Collins most recently donned the green and white uniform of the local hoops team that has a shamrock on the jersey and a leprechaun as a mascot.)
One other important thing has changed. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says he will not be in the parade if a group of gay veterans are not allowed to march. What’s different is state Rep. Marty Walsh, the proud son of Irish immigrants – same guy, different title – did not put his principles first when he gladhanded in the parade most years he represented his nearby Dorchester district.
But despite the rapid movement in acceptance and tolerance of gays in society, Hurley and parade organizer Philip Wuschke Jr. are holding fast to the ban on gay groups, citing the Supreme Court ruling and ignoring the changing landscape around them. Walsh has met once already with the men and plans another meeting today but no breakthrough appears imminent.
“”Let him run the city, and we’ll run the parade. It’s final,” Hurley told the Herald. “I don’t know how you guys can’t get it into your thick heads. . . The Supreme Court made the ruling. That’s the end of it.”
Walsh has said in the past he didn’t support the ban and, during last year’s campaign, said if elected mayor, he would cease marching, as former mayor Tom Menino did during the bulk of his tenure, if gays continued to be banned. But Walsh didn’t quite explain why it’s okay for a state representative to march if the thought of discrimination is abhorrent to a mayor.
Late last month, there appeared to be fissures in the wall of resistance as two gay groups announced their applications were accepted to march. But Wuschke shot that down pretty quickly.
Wuschke says it’s not discrimination but rather celebration of veterans that is the hallmark of the parade. In fact, most people forget that the parade is actually not an official St. Patrick’s Day event but rather an event organized by the Allied War Veterans Council to mark Evacuation Day, the day the British were driven out of Boston during the Revolutionary War. That it falls on March 17 is the luck of the Irish.
Wuschke says gays can and have marched in the parade in the past; they just don’t announce it. The Herald‘s Peter Gelzinis, a lifelong Southie resident, says that’s akin to the long-despised and now-trashed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the military.
“The world has passed them by,” Gelzinis wrote of the parade organizers.
–JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
The troubled Department of Children and Families, whose director assured lawmakers at a recent hearing that there were no other “no other Jerimiah Olivers out there today,” in fact may have lost track of hundreds of children under its care, the Globe reports.
Citing concerns about the medical marijuana license application process, House Speaker Robert DeLeo suggests scrapping the selection process and starting over, the State House News reports.
Competition for the one slot parlor license in the state appears to be coming down to Plainridge and Leominster.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Emily Rooney has a one-on-one, wide-ranging interview with new Boston Police Commissioner William Evans on a variety of subjects ranging from an alarming rise in opiate overdoses to diversity in the department’s rank and file.
Brockton Mayor William Carpenter is suing the City Council president to block an appointment the president made to the water commission of a woman who was a vocal opponent of the mayor’s support of a controversial power plant during last fall’s election.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes a bill that would have allowed businesses to not serve gays gays on religious grounds, the Daily Beast reports. Brewer says the law could have resulted in “unintended and negative consequences,” Time reports. The fine-tuned analysis from Gail Collins: “Brewer is an erratic politician, but she’s not crazy.” Slate is with congressional hopeful Richard Tisei when word of the veto comes down.
The five coastal New England states and New York receive nearly half of the $75 million in fishing disaster aid offered by Washington, the Gloucester Times reports.
Washington may be ready to embrace road spending again.
A federal judge strikes down Texas‘s ban on same-sex marriage.
Fourteen states are considering medical marijuana laws this year, while 12 are weighing marijuana decriminalization.
ELECTIONS
The chairwoman of the state GOP says she does not support the socially conservative platform adopted on abortion and gay rights adopted by the Massachusetts Republican Party.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker promises more local aid at an event in the Riverwalk in Lawrence, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Get ready for more dark money: A new Democratic Party-supporting independent expenditure PAC is formed to influence this fall’s race for governor.
Salem Police Chief Paul Tucker says he intends to run for the House seat being vacated by Rep. John Keenan, the Salem News reports.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has some suggestions for Republicans mulling over possible Cuomo challengers.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Cheerleaders for the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders have filed suit against the NFL teams saying they have violated the federal minimum wage law by paying them what amounts to less than $3.00 per hour.
EDUCATION
Boston’s interim school superintendent proposed a budget for the coming year that cuts as many as 120 jobs in the system and eliminates bus transportation for seventh and eighth graders, who would be directed to take the MBTA to school instead.
HEALTH CARE
Town residents gather in Saugus gather to discuss how to respond to opiate addiction, the Item reports.
Southcoast Health System , the largest employer in the South coast region, is pursuing a merger between its three hospitals and physician practice with South County Hospital Health Care System in Rhode Island.
TRANSPORTATION
The Senate Bonding Committee released its version of the transportation bonding bill, which jacks the cost of the measure $350 million to $13.2 billion, including an additional $100 million for mitigation for 10 towns along the proposed South Coast rail.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Cape Wind appears to be moving closer to construction, but will it still be the nation’s first offshore wind farm? Also, Cape Wind’s developer, Jim Gordon, says Massachusetts and New England are facing tough choices on the fuel of the future: natural gas, hydroelectricity from Canada, or offshore wind. The CommonWealth report is here.
Legislation on Beacon Hill backed by the Patrick administration would allow large-scale hydroelectricity generators in Canada to supply power that is counted toward the state’s renewable energy goals, the Globe reports.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
A Bay State Banner investigation finds that the civilian review board looking into Boston police abuses continues to be highly ineffective.
Police chiefs in Dracut and Billerica have very different reactions to their cities being placed on a list of the safest cities in America, the Lowell Sun reports.
Bristol Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said it was a “breakdown in the system” that allowed a fight to happen between Aaron Hernandez and another inmate.
Mattapoisett police are seeking embezzlement charges against a lieutenant on the fire department for alleged stealing money from the Mattapoisett Firefighters’ Association.
