News :: GLBT
Complaint Filed in Anti-Gay Marriage Rally Incident by Peter Cassels
EDGE ContributorTuesday Dec 19, 2006 Worcester police have filed a misdemeanor assault and battery complaint against the head of a Catholic group lobbying for an anti-gay marriage amendment following a shoving incident during a rally last weekend.
The complaint, filed Dec. 18, is against Larry Cirignano, executive director of Catholic Citizenship, a Boston-based organization supporting a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.
Cirignano allegedly pushed Sarah Loy, an equal-marriage supporter, during an anti-gay marriage rally outside Worcester City Hall on Dec. 16. Loy fell to the ground, but was uninjured.
According to Loy, who is heterosexual and a board member of the Worcester County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, she had left a group of about 20 marriage equality supporters and crossed a buffer zone between the opposing groups. She was carrying a sign that read "No discrimination in the Constitution."
A man later identified as Cirignano approached her and told her she would have to step back. Loy said that before she could do so, the man grabbed her by the shoulders with both hands and pushed her backward. Loy then fell to the ground, she reported.
EDGE conducted a telephone interview with an eyewitness to the incident Dec. 19. Earlier, Chris Robarge of Worcester had e-mailed EDGE, writing, "As a straight man working very hard to make sure that same-sex marriage rights are not put in jeopardy here in Massachusetts, this [alleged] assault was beyond disgusting to me."
During the interview, Robarge described the scene. He said a podium had been set up on the steps of City Hall and there were about 20 or 30 feet of space around it. Anti-gay marriage supporters gathered in a half circle around the podium. The buffer zone about five or six feet separated them from the group of pro-equality supporters, also gathered in a half circle.
"At the time of incident, I was with the pro-equality folks at the front of our circle," Robarge reported. "There was no one in front of me. Ms. Loy was within the anti-marriage group but only about 20 or 15 feet away from me."
Robarge said he saw Loy being pushed. "There was a hand on each of her shoulders and then she fell," he continued. "The back of her head hit the ground. I did not see the face connected to the hands."
The eyewitness reported that he was concerned for her safety, so he dropped the sign he was holding and rushed toward Loy "because there were people around her, but they didn’t do anything to help. That’s why I didn’t see his face right away. There were people around obstructing my view."
As he went to assist Loy, Robarge said he saw a man heading through the crowd, away from Loy, and back towards the podium. "I did see that it was Mr. Cirignano," he told EDGE. "He had just spoken. I had just seen him at the podium. I didn’t know who he was but recognized him as the speaker."
Police officers came up to where Loy was lying on the ground. According to Robarge, one said, "You need to get out of here. You need to get back where you are supposed to be. You need to get her out of here, too." There was no apparent concern for Loy’s well-being, Robarge added. He was one of several witnesses who later made statements to police about the incident. Police also interviewed Loy and Cirignano.
Officers did not witness the incident, Worcester police spokesperson Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst told EDGE Dec. 19. If they had, they would have placed Cirignano under arrest on a misdemeanor charge, he said. "He’s already admitted that he touched her," Hazelhurst reported. Under Massachusetts law, a person can be charged with assault and battery by merely touching another person if the touch is unwanted, Hazelhurst explained. "He pushed her down and he admits that as well."
Cirignano will be summonsed to appear before a clerk magistrate for a hearing to determine if he will be charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, likely in four to six weeks because of a busy court calendar, the sergeant said.
Peter Cassels is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association’s Excellence in Journalism award. His e-mail address is pcassels@edgepublications.com.
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