CT Man Arrested for Threatening Gay Legislators Over Catholic Church Bill

A Connecticut native, I’m well aware our state is filled with plenty of crazies. And then 26-year-old Timothy Kane had to raise the bar. He’s the guy who was just charged with second-degree harassment after sending a threatening email to state Sen. Andrew McDonald and state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor (the openly gay co-chairs of the judiciary committee who helped establish same-sex marriage rights), which included a “reference to the residences of the two legislators, insinuating retaliation for their position on Senate Bill 1098 pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church, along with other derogatory statements.” Senate Bill 1098, for those not in the know, would have changed the Catholic Church’s administrative and financial structure, but was withdrawn amid protests on the Capitol. The email Kane sent was not, to our knowledge, gay specific, but is perhaps the most grotesque form of outrage aimed at legislators for proposing the bill, which religious advocates saw as yet another infringment on their rights, just like gay marriage. [Hartford Courant]