STATE HOUSE — Reps. Colleen Garry, a Dracut Democrat, and James Lyons, an Andover Republican, were the only two members of the Judiciary Committee to vote against both versions of a transgender bill in a poll taken on Friday.
Republican Sen. Richard Ross, of Wrentham, and Republican Rep. Sheila Harrington, of Groton, both voted in favor of versions of the bill. Rep. John Velis, a Westfield Democrat, reserved his rights on both bills, according to a tally provided by the committee, which features mostly Democrats.
The culture war has only just begun. This is not a conventional battle of two sides, sparring over rights and the merits of tradition within the confines of civil democratic debates. Sadly, we are in the midst of guerrilla warfare where unpredictable alliances are forming and personal feuds are fought with passion in the public courts and the sphere of public opinion.
The current national tension surrounding sexual and religious freedom raises a tangle of questions that concern public display and private conscience, personal affirmation and self-expression, the merits of the free market, the nature of business-consumer interaction, and the power of big business versus the vulnerability of small mom-and-pop operations. Above all, it raises questions about the meaning of liberty and exposes just how fragile it is.
