Granby residents show support for Connecticut Parentage Act

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Photos by Bart Cochran

A few of the supporters of the Connecticut Parentage Act who came out to support the LBGTQ+ community.

On Sunday, May 2, 72 people from the Granby area assembled on the town green in a public display of support for the local LBGTQ+ community and the Connecticut Parentage Act legislation. The bill, currently making its way through the Connecticut general assembly, clarifies parental rights for the LBGTQ+ community and unmarried partners. The enthusiastic crowd included many families and young people, and three local members of the clergy, including myself.

The Act passed the Connecticut House with a margin of 141-1, demonstrating overwhelming bipartisan support across the entire state. However, Granby’s State Representative Mark Anderson cast the only “nay” vote against the Act. 

Anderson is the founder of Connecticut’s Republican Assembly that is also known as the Tea Party, which narrowly defines families as “consisting of persons related by blood or adoption through the marriage of one man and one woman…the government is duty bound to protect the integrity of the family unit through legislation and tax policies.” His “no” vote was seen by people at the rally as an extremist gesture that is out of step with the opinions and desires of his constituents. 

Granby resident Audrey Lampert, who organized the rally in support of Granby’s LBGTQ+ residents, remarked, “Anderson has brought an extremist agenda to the State House that is consistent with his views, but not with the majority of people living in our district. Seventy percent of people in this country are in favor of measures to support the LBGTQ+ community, and if the response of people passing by us on that day was any indication, support here in Granby is even higher.”

The demonstration took place peacefully for about an hour and disbursed without incident.