Providence Journal video by Kris Craig
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Just days before the U.S. Supreme Court will confront two distinct gay marriage cases, a video of a Providence boy's State House testimony that his moms should be able to legally marry has been receiving tens of thousands of views on several websites, including YouTube.
Wheeler School sixth grader Matthew Lannon, 12, may have been the youngest of the hundreds to testify during an unprecedented 12-hour marathon hearing before the state's Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday in favor of a bill sponsored by his aunt, state Sen. Donna Nesselbush, that would legalize gay marriage in the Ocean State.
In his statement, Lannon urged committee members to support his aunt's bill:
"My parents, [Maryellen Butke and Josephine O'Connell] and all the other gay and lesbian people here just want to be happy. Just like you, all they want is to be treated fairly. But unlike most of you, they have to come here again, year after year, and explain over and over why their love is equal to yours. This year, you have the opportunity to change that. I say, choose love."
The video by Journal photographer Kris Craig was picked up by the Huffington Post and Salon, and was featured on AOL's homepage and elsewhere across the web.
As of Saturday afternoon, the video had received tens of thousands of views. Scores of the thousands of comments across the web commend Lannon, and speak to the quality of parenting in families like his:
"Matthew's expression when he is done and people begin to applaud is priceless. A great speech from a great kid. I hope those who needed to hear it listened with open minds and hearts. Stop dragging your feet, Rhode Island."
"Those who say they are against marriage equality to protect the children -- THIS is who they say they are speaking for. They are not. He is speaking for himself. He is speaking for his loving family. Everyone should listen."
"I had a comrade in the military who saved my life twice. He came out of the closet once he left the military (way back when they would dishonorably discharge you). He and his lover of 16 years had to raise his younger brothers when his parents became incapacitated. They turned out the sweetest, nicest kids you have ever known. Hard-working patriots and Christians. The people who insist that having gay parents damages the children are blinded by their own hatred and bigotry. "
"I think most of the people freaking out about this are doing so because they are seeing what we've been saying all along... their so called "studies" that suggest children of gay parents suffer are ridiculous and unfounded. "
As Rhode Island debates whether to join the rest of New England in legally recognizing same-sex unions, the Supreme Court has scheduled 60 minutes of oral argument in Hollingsworth v. Perry on Tuesday morning. The case involves a challenge to California's Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages. A federal appeals court has ruled it to be unconstitutional. Supporters asked for the Supreme Court to review the ruling.
On Wednesday, the court has scheduled an unusually long 110 minutes of argument in United States v. Windsor. The case challenges the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that prohibits myriad federal benefits from going to gay married couples.
-- With McClatchy-Tribune News Service reports