ACLU's Norma Shapiro gets her 'Academy Award moment'

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts honored one of its own at its annual Bill of Rights Dinner on May 28, presenting Norma Shapiro, the organization's legislative director, with its Roger Baldwin Award for her 20 years of advocacy on a range of issues, including education, reproductive rights, the death penalty and marriage equality.

From the beginning of the marriage equality movement Shapiro was one of the core members of the lobby team working to protect the Goodridge decision; the audience at the Marriot Copley Place in Boston was filled with gay movers and shakers who turned out to salute one of the community's most dedicated allies.

State Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston), who introduced a video tribute to Shapiro, explained that the ACLU chose to honor her because she plans to retire this year. Rushing, one of the lead legislative strategists in the marriage equality fight, said Shapiro's strategic insight was vital to the success of the marriage equality movement.

"And of course it goes without saying that we would be honoring Norma Shapiro whether she was retiring or not for her selfless and continued and engaging work - even thinking about killing a few of my colleagues, right? - towards the end of marriage equality in the Commonwealth," said Rushing.

The Baldwin award is named after the founder of both the ACLU of Massachusetts and its national counterpart. ACLU of Massachusetts Executive Director Carol Rose told the crowd that past winners of the award included such luminaries as Rosa Parks, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Kurt Vonnegut and Carl Sagan.

"Norma, it is about time we put you in that pantheon of civil liberties heroes, and I'm really glad to see you there," said Rose.

The video tribute included testimonials from lawmakers and advocates who have worked with her and photos of Shapiro in the thick of the action during various legislative battles, including shots of Shapiro and other marriage equality activists celebrating after the defeat of the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage last June. For comedic effect the photos and testimonials were interspersed with clips from a film about another tireless crusader named Norma,Norma Rae.

Among those giving testimonials in praise of Shapiro were Sen. Robert Antonioni (D-Leominster), who credited Shapiro with "[finding] a way to appeal to the better angels of our nature," and Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge), who said, "Norma, you are the person who belies the description of how nasty lobbyists are."

Shapiro received a standing ovation when she took to the podium to accept the award, and she quipped, "This is my Academy Award moment. I get to say a lot of things."

After thanking her husband, Ben, and her fellow advocates at the ACLU and other organizations, she also paused to thank all of the people who supported the ACLU throughout the years. She praised them for their role in helping the ACLU fight battles on a range of issues, including marriage equality.

"And you were there every agonizing step of the way as we secured marriage rights for same-sex couples," said Shapiro.

The host committee for the dinner was a who's-who of the marriage equality movement and included two Goodridge plaintiff couples, David Wilson and Robert Compton and Ellen Wade and Maureen Brodoff; MassEquality campaign director Marc Solomon; philanthropist Ron Ansin; former state senator Jarrett Barrios; Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders Legal Director Gary Buseck; ACLU board member Holly Gunner; and former MassEquality board president Elyse Cherry.

Shapiro even got a shout out from the evening's featured entertainer, comedian Kate Clinton.

"Special congratulations to Norma Shapiro. You rock my world. ... A nice, little, Jewish diminutive grandmother, isn't that fabulous what she can do with a Catholic legislature? Fabulous job," said Clinton.