In a move strikingly similar to those taken against civil rights activists by racists during the 1950s and 1960s, a pair of homosexual activists in Massachusetts is seeking to intimidate citizens of Massachusetts who want to sign petitions for a proposal to ban homosexual marriages and civil unions in Massachusetts.

``I have the fight in me now, and if people I know, or that I support, or that I do business with are on that list, I might not support them or their philanthropies or their businesses,'' said Tom Lang, who launched knowthyneighbor.org with his spouse, Alex Westerhoff.

Lang, 42, said he and Westerhoff, 36, are only providing via the Internet public information that any citizen could obtain at the secretary of state's office. But anti-gay marriage activists are outraged.

``We think that it is intimidation by no other name,'' said Kristian Mineau, whose name was listed as one of the first 30 signers of the petition. Mineau said he will explore the rights of people who have signed or plan to sign the petition.

``Certainly it raises my concerns. This is the first I have heard of it,'' said Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.

Mineau and his wife are listed on the site, along with their address. Also listed: former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn; Dover Selectwoman Kathleen W. Weld and her husband, Walter Weld; and Richard W. Richardson, spokesman for the Black Ministerial Alliance.

This strikes at the heart of public participation in the electoral process. It is also more than a little reminiscent of tactics by the Democrat Party and other racist groups in the South to get the membership rolls of the NAACP and other groups made public so that the public could know which neighbors to harass and which businesses to boycott.

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