Rosenberg's revelation applauded

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on July 10, 2009

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about a newspaper column in which longtime state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg stated that he is gay is the unremarkable way he did it.

About halfway into a column about equality and civil rights that appeared on the Daily Hampshire Gazette's editorial page July 4, Rosenberg mentioned, almost as if in passing, that he is gay.

The news has been greeted warmly by constituents and colleagues, who say times have changed so much that the announcement will hardly be a blip on the radar.

State Rep. Ellen Story, who lives in Amherst and has served as a long-term colleague, said the column was beautifully done and well written.

"It makes me proud, once again, to be a member of the same Legislature that was the first in the country to legalize same-sex marriage," said Story, reached at her Boston office Tuesday.

Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins called it a good column that demonstrates why she respects Rosenberg's work on policy. "Stan has been a leader, and I wish him to be a continued leader," Higgins said.

In the column, Rosenberg writes about the five years in which gay marriage has been legal, putting the policy in a historical time line from the Salem witch trials of the 17th century, through the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II to the modern discrimination faced by minority members of society, including blacks, Hispanics, gays and lesbians.

"As a foster child who grew up as a ward of the state, as a gay man, as a Jew, I understand what it's like to be cast as the other.' I rarely discuss these facets of my character because I don't practice identity politics," Rosenberg writes.

"I practice policy politics. And I firmly believe that we will never fulfill our potential as a just society until we embrace the principle of equality for all and adhere to it as fundamental, immutable policy."

Through his aide Tom Mitchell, Rosenberg said the column speaks for itself, and declined further comment.

Higgins has been open about being a lesbian since first entering Northampton politics in 1994.

She suspects that in Rosenberg's case, there may have been some fear in making the announcement, even though she knows Rosenberg's district will be accepting.

"I think things have changed in the 16 years I've been in public office," Higgins said.

Unlike 15 to 20 years ago, when such an announcement may have been cause for concern among supporters, Story is confident that won't affect Rosenberg one way or another.

"In the district I represent, Amherst and Granby, people are very good about assessing a legislator's personal life as their personal life," Story said. "It's not breaking news; it's mostly irrelevant."

Higgins agrees, noting that she hopes people focus on the public records of politicians.

"We're more than just our sexual orientation," Higgins said. "It's one part of who people are."

Brett-Genny Beemyn, director of the Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts, said in an email that the state has had a long line of gay politicians, including Elaine Noble, the first openly lesbian woman to serve in the state Legislature, Gerry Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress, and Barney Frank, now one of the most powerful members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"But it is still a courageous act for a prominent politician to come out, given that LGBT people remain second-class U.S. citizens in many respects, as Rosenberg mentioned in his column," Beemyn said in an email.

"Same-sex couples may have marriage rights in Massachusetts, but institutional and personal discrimination are by no means things of the past in the commonwealth," Beemyn added.

Story said the reaction was uniformly positive at Amherst's Fourth of July parade, in which Rosenberg marched alongside her, U.S. Rep. John Olver and Hampshire County Register of Deeds David Sullivan.

"The only signs I saw were supportive and positive," Story said.

Currently Senate president pro tempore, Rosenberg first won a seat in the state House of Representatives in 1986, and in 1991 won election as a state senator, succeeding Olver.

During his tenure, he has served as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from 1996 to 1999 and has been a strong supporter of gay marriage.

Story said the column was a perfect melding of topics for Independence Day.

"Since he wanted to make this announcement, he felt this was the perfect opportunity," Story said.

Rosenberg's announcement is reminiscent of what then Amherst Select Board Chairwoman Elisa Campbell did in 1990, when during a workshop on improving the multicultural climate in town government she came out as a bisexual.

"I think it's wonderful that he feels OK to do that," Campbell said.

At the time, Campbell said that while perhaps one's sexuality ought to be a private matter, "I also recognize that the only people for whom that is true are heterosexuals."

Rosenberg's brief statement shouldn't have any consequences. "I'm sure most of his constituents are thrilled as well. It's a good thing," Campbell said.