Growing up in Peabody, I know how good Tom McGee was to his native Lynn and the North Shore in general. But I was a bit taken aback by the obituary published in the Jan. 1 Globe that made him appear saintly (“Thomas McGee, 88, House speaker for longest period in state history”). For those of us who remember the lengthy battle to have sexual orientation nondiscrimination legislation passed in Massachusetts, we can’t forget how McGee nastily opposed any effort to legislate equal rights for the Commonwealth’s gay and lesbian citizens.
I and others who remember his loud, scurrilous, mocking, and homophobic rants against these measures (and against those who supported them) in the waning months of his career as speaker of the House would wonder whether the obituary was about the same person.
Comments
I agree with you. I remember how bloody (figuratively) the battle was to remove him and the courage of the legislators who did so.
So true. I didn't know this poltician that well, but I do agree that death shouldn't be an opportunity to ignore someone's least attractive features.