Woman Charged With Beating Gay Marriage Supporter
"Woman Charged With Beating Gay Marriage Supporter" Associated PressBoston
–A woman who was part of a conservative Christian group rallying Thursday at the Massachusetts Statehouse for a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is charged with assaulting a gay marriage supporter who was attending a rally across the street opposing the amendment.Diane Steele, 52, was arraigned Friday on charges of assault and battery.
Steele, from Richmond in western Massachusetts, was one of about a hundred protestors calling on state lawmakers to approve the amendment and send it to voters in 2008.
Steele allegedly crossed the street and slapped the unidentified person. The victim was startled but not hurt.
Boston Police spokesperson James Kenneally said Steele apparently decided to "escalate" the debate into a physical confrontation.
Crowds on both sides of the gay marriage issue were holding simultaneous rallies across from the Statehouse as lawmakers in a joint session of the legislature were considering the amendment.
In a session that lasted less than a half-hour the legislature voted against referring the question to voters.
It is not the first time that a member of a conservative Christian group has been accused of accosting a gay marriage supporter.
In April, the former leader of a Catholic group advocating for a constitutional ban on gay marriage was arraigned on assault and civil rights violations stemming from a demonstration last December.
Larry Cirignano, 50, who at the time was the head of Catholic Citizenship, was alleged to have attacked a woman taking part in a counter demonstration at an anti-gay rally in front of Worcester City Hall last December 16th.
Sarah Loy, 27, was part of a group who stood near the front of the rally where Cirignano was speaking.
Loy was carrying a sign reading “No Discrimination In the Constitution.”
Cirignano reportedly had just finished leading the Pledge of Allegiance when he spotted Loy and her sign.
Police allege that he left the podium and tackled Loy to the ground. “You need to get out! You need to get out of here right now,” he reportedly told her as her head was pushed into the concrete sidewalk.
As Loy lay bruised and bloodied on the sidewalk, Cirignano reportedly returned to lectern, joining other leaders of the protest in condemning same-sex marriage and demanding the proposed amendment be put on the ballot.