As I sat self-loathing over the cigarette I wish I wasn't smoking, two planes pulling banners approached.
"JUDGES TIED 3-TO-3 ON GAY MARRIAGE - REMOVE MARSHALL! the first one read. Obviously this was referring to
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, the 4th vote which allowed passage of the historic legislation some two years ago.
The message continued on the second plane. "WE CAN STOP GAY MARRIAGE NOW! CALL 617-722-2500" This one was a tough one to figure out, simply because the orientation of the planes had their messages backwards from my point of view - after the first banner, I expected this message.
Being the progressive pain-in-the-ass I am, I called to see who I'd find on the other end of the line. The woman answered "<somebody's inaudible name>'s Office - how can I help you?"
"Good afternoon, ma'am! I saw your number on an airplane banner, and was calling as requested."
"Yes... " The hesitation in her voice made me believe I'm not the first caller.
And I wasn't.
"And I'm sorry, but I didn't hear who I'm speaking with. My name is
__."
"This is Speaker DiMasi's office, and we are aware of those planes. We... We don't know who is behind them, but Speaker DiMasi is 100% behind equal rights for all citizens." Because of my neutral opening of the call, the receptionist wasn't sure which side I was on, which was evident in her voice as she stated this to me.
At this point I told her the Speaker has my full support, and I called out of curiousity. She was relieved, and we chatted about the reaction to the messages. I really wish I knew who paid for those planes, because I think they should know what their money ended up paying for: several times as many calls were received showing support for gay marriage than were opposed.
We then joked around for a minute about the absurdity of the situation, as I wanted to try & send some good vibes to someone fielding calls from the occasional America-hating "Warriors for Christmas" fringe. I was almost disappointed that I didn't have a chance to have a nice, intelligent (which would mean one-sided) conversation with a local troglodyte. But I'll take reinforcing equal rights if I can't chip away at the walls of bigotry.
Disclaimer: No "traditional" marriages were harmed during the legalization of same-sex marriage.