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Neighborhood shows support for gay families
By Lisa Mackie
 Alongside daffodils and other harbingers of spring, signs have been popping up in Takoma Park yards supporting marriage rights.
Along Circle Drive, Prince George’s Avenue, and other streets in the neighborhood of Forest Park, bright pink and orange signs proclaim "Peace, love, marriage for all our neighbors," "Separate but equal is still wrong," and "Don’t legislate discrimination."
Amid the recent controversy surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage, this past February, President Bush called for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Risa Shaw, who started making the signs on her kitchen table, says she and her neighbors wanted to convey the idea that this issue is about "basic American values." She says, "It doesn’t make sense to amend the constitution in order to discriminate against a group of people."
The President’s call is intended to override legislation and actions by state and local officials in Massachusetts, California, and other states attempting to legalize marriages between same-sex couples.
At the state level
Maryland law, since 1973, has specifically stated that only marriages between a man and woman are legal. California has a similar law yet city officials in San Francisco have recently issued thousands of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Recent attempts to pass legislation that would prohibit the state from recognizing marriages performed in other locations was defeated in the Maryland House of Delegates.
At the local level
While the city of Takoma Park does not have the authority to issue marriage licenses–that happens at the county level–Shaw hopes that the city council will pass a resolution to recognize marriages performed in other jurisdictions, as Santa Cruz has done in California.
Since 1993 Takoma Park has maintained a domestic partner registry, as well as offering certain benefits to domestic partners of city employees. Shaw said that she and her partner, who have been together 17 years, are not registered because they want full equality. She says, "We are going to Portland in a couple weeks to get married."
Signs are spreading
Ann Nelligan, who posted a sign in her front yard, has two small children. She says the rash of signs has prompted conversations with them. When her 4-year-old son asked her what the signs mean, she says, "I told him it means Risa and Sharon should be able to get married." He responded, "They’re not?"
Shaw and her partner, who is an attorney, are planning to speak at a high school where students who saw one of the signs asked to learn more about the issues. They will give them some background information and provide instructions for making signs of their own.
Nelligan says, "Everybody who puts up a sign has a different idea," but to her they are "a statement of our hope" for the future and "a statement of support of our neighbors who are in gay families."When the signs started going up, people and businesses began to request them and donate money or supplies. The signs are spreading to other neighborhood–Mount Rainier, Silver Spring, College Park, even Lincoln, Nebraska.
Shaw says, "it is in the Takoma Park tradition to enfranchise rather than disenfranchise." To her, the issue is a matter of civil rights: "We don’t think anyone should be a second-class citizen."
Links for further information on the issues:
Pro gay marriage:
Human Rights Campaign
http://hrc.org/
Against gay marriage:
American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/
President Bush’s call for an amendment:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040224-2.html
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