Michael Cahillane, a Democratic district attorney candidate in Massachusetts's
Northwestern District, said he regrets signing a 2005 petition to ban
marriage equality in the first U.S. state to legalize marriage for gay
and lesbian couples.
According to Bay Windows, both the candidate and his wife, Christine, were among the 143,000 signers of the 2005 VoteOnMarriage.org petition. The names were published by KnowThyNeighbor.org in the wake of Doe v. Reed, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was constitutional to disclose the names of people who signed such petitions. Cahillane affirms that he originally signed the petition "in a spirit of democracy allowing people to vote and place items onto the ballot."
Now Cahillane says it was a bad move: "I regret signing the petition. I have friends and family who it affected deeply. I believe that we’re all individuals entitled to rights and protections, and as district attorney I will [enforce] that." Earlier in the month he told the New Hampshire Gazette that the issue of same-sex marriage was very personal to him.
Tom Lang, founder of KnowThyNeighbor.org, told Bay Windows, "That’s the beauty of having the names out there. People are using these lists as a way to buy their goods and services, or who they’re going to vote for."
Cahillane faces Dave Sullivan, an outspoken supporter of marriage equality, in the Democratic primary September 14. The district, in the western part of Massachusetts, includes Hampshire and Franklin counties, the former being home to the lesbian mecca of Northampton.
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