Maine firefighters do ad for marriage equality

Tomorrow Mainers United will launch a new ad for the upcoming vote on marriage.  The ad features four firefighters - three who are straight and one who is gay.  Watch below:



It's the first ad of the cycle that has prominently featured someone who would benefit from marriage equality.  Previous ads that feature families of gay people discussing why marriage is about fairness are important for voters on the fence (see the brilliant Harlan ad), but I think these messengers are important in reaching the people who still can't imagine that they'd have a gay relative.  Plus, let's be honest, everyone trusts and respects a firefighter. Read the rest of this post...

Maine marriage campaign preempts religious freedom attacks

As Mainers United for Marriage kicks off the final phase of the marriage campaign, they've released a new ad that takes on the issue of religious freedom.  Knowing the NOM/Schubert playbook will feature lies about the impact of this law on churches, they're addressing the attack early.

Reverend Michael Gray, the lead signer on the petition that put marriage back on the ballot and a vocal supporter is featured in a new ad (below) that was released last week, as well as taking to the the opinion page of the Portland Press Herald.  In the letter he makes the point that real religious freedom is protected by approving marriage in November.

...Despite assertions made by columnist M.D. Harmon ("Religious groups overwhelmingly oppose same-sex marriage," Sept. 14), religious freedom means that all churches -- and not just some churches -- should be free to make their own decisions in regards to solemnizing marriages between same-sex couples.

In Maine, there are more than 75 congregations -- including more than 400 pastors, rabbis and lay leaders -- who support the freedom to marry.

I am among that group. I'm the pastor of Old Orchard Beach United Methodist Church.

I got involved in this issue after prayerful consideration. My faith informs me, first and foremost, that God is love, and that we should do all we can to treat others as we ourselves would hope to be treated. For me, that means supporting the ability of all loving, committed couples to marry...

...The citizens initiative ensures that churches, clergy, religious institutions and denomination cannot be required to host or perform any wedding that falls outside of their beliefs. It also guarantees that no church or religious institution could be sued for declining to host or perform a ceremony. [read the full letter here]

Here's the ad with Rev. Gray and his wife:

Read the rest of this post...

Tea Party spokesman comes out for marriage equality in Maine

Over the weekend, Dan Demeritt, the former communications director for Maine's extreme Tea Party governor, published an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald announcing his support for marriage equality.

It's a pretty remarkable endorsement, considering that he worked for such a right-wing administration.  It also follows the launch of Republicans United for Marriage, a subset of Mainers United for Marriage.

Maine law currently denies committed same-sex couples an equal chance to celebrate and protect through marriage the lives they have built together. If ours is truly a free and fair society, government should not treat one class of adult differently from another. Couples willing to share a life together should have equal access to a civil marriage license, regardless of sexual orientation.

The marriage question is about fair access and treatment at city hall, not new requirements on religious institutions. The initiative includes protections from liability for churches and clergy who choose not to perform or host same-sex marriages.

I am going to vote for the marriage initiative because I believe in freedom and opportunity for all. I am talking publicly about my position because of the difference a supportive spouse has made in my life and because of the growth I have experienced as a friend and father.

Demeritt also warns of the false claims of marriage equality harming children (that we all expect and saw last time) and praises the groundwork laid by Mainers United for Marriage.

To create doubt in the minds of persuadable voters, Protect Marriage Maine, as was the case in 2009, will try to raise concerns about the impact that same-sex marriage will have on children. I believe these concerns will be exaggerated and unreasonable but potentially compelling for voters who do not have strongly held views on same-sex marriage.

Mainers United for Marriage has done an outstanding job of building the framework of a winning campaign. But so far, it is has been an effort focused more on principles and coalitions than on the raw concerns that will move undecided voters on Election Day.

Read the rest of this post...

New Maine marriage ad to premiere during Olympic opening ceremonies

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is running an ad is support of marriage equality in Maine tomorrow during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  The ad features four generations of a family from northern Maine.


You can see this and other videos at  http://www.whymarriagemattersmaine.com/.

In other news, recent fundraising reports showed that Mainers United for Marriage, the pro-equality campaign in Maine has raised about 20 times the opposition - $597,000 to $31,000 between May 30 and July 17th.  Philanthropist Tim Gill has also launched a dollar for dollar matching campaign for up to $100,000 through August 10th.  You can donate here.

This is a strong start, but we can all be sure that groups like NOM will step in in the coming months to fund the opposition.  No matter how good fundraising and polling looks now, we know that this will be a tough campaign in the fall. Read the rest of this post...

Maines support marriage 57-35 percent

Wow.  I'm still leery of all these "hurray!" polls, but still, this is awfully good.  So far... Read the rest of this post...

Looking beyond couples at impact of marriage equality in Maine

The Bangor Daily News, Maine’s second largest newspaper, recently launched a blog to share the “stories and voices behind the editorial page.”  The first post gets at a key issue in the push for marriage equality in Maine: real family values.  Our opponents never seem to acknowledge the children of gay couples when they mislead and distort to claim they want to “protect” children. 

From Erin Rhoda, the editorial page editor (and, incidentally, a friend from high school):

…To talk to Ray and Rodney is to understand on a personal level how laws surrounding gay rights affect not just same-sex couples but their families. Ray and Rodney want to marry in Maine so their relationship can be recognized for their son’s sake — so he can have that sense of affirmation.

“For us the strong motivating factor is to help him,” Rodney said. They want Ethan, now age 12, to one day be the best man at their wedding.

Their story also illuminates the positive direction of legal changes so far. Ray and Rodney have seen the adoption law altered to work in their favor. And even though Mainers voted in 2009 to overturn a law legalizing same-sex marriage, Ray said he knows change comes incrementally. The couple has seen opinion — within their family and the general public — turn in support…

...Children of gay couples across Maine deserve to see their parents treated equally. It’s preposterous that it’s legal for a gay couple to adopt but not marry.

You can read Ray and Rodney’s full story on the Arguably blog.

Read the rest of this post...

Child-rape-enablers to play crucial role in opposing marriage in Maine

I'm sorry, but I simply don't care what an institution that tacitly sanctions the rape of children has to say about anything. Nor should you. Read the rest of this post...

Anatomy of an anti-gay campaign

Joe Fox, who produced the documentary Question One, about the marriage battle in Maine a few years back, pens a piece for the Advocate about the larger lessons learned in these marriage battles.  This anecdote from the Maine battle is telling, and depressing:

But it was actually the telephone calls that told me we were doomed. As the “Yes” folk made their phone calls during the final days, they would allow me to listen in by putting the calls on speaker. One call after another, the person on the other end started off leaning toward voting “no.”

“I just want to do the right thing,” said one woman. “I just believe in giving my gay and lesbian neighbors equal rights.”

“Of course you do,” responded the Yes phone banker. “We all do. But you know they have their civil rights. They have all their rights.”

And wouldn’t you know it, seven minutes later, the woman hung up pledging to vote “yes.”

This was an argument that seemed to work. When presented with the “facts” as to how many protections gays and lesbians had and that we really didn’t need marriage to be treated fairly and equally, they were stumped. And in my gut there was a sickening feeling that this could be their silver bullet.

I remember several years ago talking to an acquaintance at the Family Research Council about ENDA and having them tell me that job "discrimination" was already illegal - it must already be illegal to fire someone for being gay - so that gays must be asking for something "more" with ENDA (perhaps affirmative action?). They simply didn't get, or believe, that it's legal to fire someone for being gay, so they just assumed that it must be a trick, we must be seeking some kind of "special" rights. Read the rest of this post...

Marriage equality leads by 20 points in ME

Though I worry that we've been ahead before only to lose in the end.  Still, it's better than the alternative, having a bad poll.  More from Towleroad. Read the rest of this post...

Maine Dems release "It Gets Better" video

The Maine Democratic Party released an "It Gets Better" video yesterday at their annual Pride event.  The video includes both Representatives Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud and several Democratic officials and elected leaders.  Here's the video:

Here is the list of participants, in the order they appear:

• Dale McCormick, former State Legislator, former State Treasurer, former Director of Maine State House Authority 
• Zach Kendrick, MDP Operations Director 
• Maggie Allen, Democratic National Committeewoman 
• Lizzy Reinholt, MDP Communications Director 
• Michael Brennan, Mayor of Portland and former State Senator 
• Janet Mills, MDP Vice Chair, former Maine Attorney General, former State Legislator 
• Rick Redmond, MDP Finance Director 
• Mary Erin Casale, MDP Executive Director 
• Congressman Mike Michaud 
• Congresswoman Chellie Pingree 
• Sam Spencer, Democratic National Committeeman 
• Jill Barkley, Chair of the Portland Democratic City Committee 
• Justin Alfond, Maine Senate Democratic Whip 
• Joe Hanslip, Democratic State Committee member, retired police 
• Phil Bartlett, Maine State Senator, Democratic National Committeeman-elect 
• Ben Grant, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party 
• Emily Cain, Maine House Democratic Leader

Read the rest of this post...

Watch a new message from the campaign manager of Mainers United for Marriage

Matt McTighe, the new campaign manager for Mainers United for Marriage, the new group fighting for marriage equality in November, published a letter in the Portland Press Herald yesterday on his fight for marriage.

Sometimes they're hilarious; often they're a little awkward. Sometimes they bring down the house, leaving not a dry eye in the place.

The best man's speech I gave at my brother Bobby's wedding may be the only time I've ever seen him -- the older brother I grew up idolizing, the Army major just back from his first Iraq tour and only three months shy of his second -- well up with emotion. I'll never forget the joy our entire family felt that day, nor the bond I felt with my brother.

When a groom asks his friend or brother or father to stand with him on one of the biggest days of his life, he's asking them to bear witness, to support him, to lift him up and to celebrate the joy of the day.

That is true for all couples who have made a lifelong commitment to each other, a commitment built upon love, mutual respect and dignity. It is no less true for the tens of thousands of loving, committed same-sex couples living in Maine.

You can read the whole letter here.

The campaign also released a video message from McTighe outlining the launch of the campaign and asking supporters to answer the call to support the campaign.

Read the rest of this post...

Ask Landmark Theaters to show "Question One," about Maine marriage campaign, nationwide

Gang, I'm bumping this because I think it's important.  We'd like your help in convincing Landmark Theatres to show a gay filmmaker's documentary about how the religious right stole marriage away from us in Maine in 2009 by lying about the threat we posed to children.  The documentary even captures the head of the anti-gay side of the campaign admitting that they lied to the voters. How can you help?  Send a quick email to Landmark, telling them where you're from, and argue them to show the film in their theaters: Q1Landmark@gmail.com The goal here isn't to pressure Landmark, but rather to show them that it makes good business sense to show the film, as there's a lot of community interest in attending.  I think sometimes people assume they don't need to take action because everyone else is. Well, they're not. Please help :)

More info in the original post below - and please ask your friends to send an email too. Thanks.
___________

Landmark Theatres is the largest art house theater chain in the US. And there's a serious proposal before the company to show the documentary "Question One" in its cinemas nationwide. We'd like your help in letting Landmark know that there's genuine interest in seeing this film.

Question One is the story of the campaign to repeal/save marriage equality in Maine back in 2009. Produced and directed by gay film maker Joe Fox and his co-producer/director James Nubile, the movie takes the approach of following both campaigns, the good and bad (as it were), from behind the scenes, up until election night. I saw it last fall and thought it was really well done, in addition to quite damning of the religious right. Now, we've teamed up with Joe F. and James to ask Landmark to show the movie. Given all the intensity around marriage equality across the country, the timing couldn't be better.

What's most interesting about the documentary is that even though it's "fair" - both sides get to tell their story - the anti-gay campaign does a bang-up job of indicting themselves by the end of the film. Their campaign manager, Mark Mutty (who works for the Catholic Diocese of Maine), makes it clear that they lied to the people of Maine in order to take away our civil rights. And the mastermind behind the lies was Frank Schubert, who did the same thing on Prop. 8 (won by telling voters the lie that we were coming after their children) - and, no doubt, will again. The admissions are damning. And that's one good reason for anyone who is interested in the quest for marriage equality to see this film.

So here's how you can help:
1. Email Landmark Theatres: Q1Landmark@gmail.com

All you need to do is send a quick email to Landmark, telling them you'd like them to show "Question One," the documentary about the marriage equality battle in Maine, in their theaters, and that of course you'll go the show and tell your friends about it. Use this email address: Q1Landmark@gmail.com The film's directors will then hand deliver the emails to a Landmark executive. If you want, put your home town in the subject line of the email, so that the geographic diversity of interest is clear on its face just by looking at the subject lines.

2. Tweet this post.
3. Share this post on Facebook.

There's some great commentary on "Question 1" from Bill Nemitz of the Portland Press Herald:

[Mutty] insists that the central campaign theme for “Yes on 1” – that same-sex marriage, if not repealed, would be required teaching throughout Maine’s public schools – was “hyperbole” and “not a completely accurate statement and we all know it isn’t.”

Yes, the Bishop's aide actually admit that their central message was a lie.

We aren't surprised that the other side lies. It's just stunning to see it in their own words. And, it's critical for our straight allies to know this, too. Just this we learned that the National Organization for Marriage, NOM, is trying to incite a race war in order to win the fight on marriage equality. Again, not surprising to us. But, it's clearly captured the attention of the traditional media.

The duplicity of the anti-LGBT industry needs to be exposed. The true story of how dirty they are in the way they handle these anti-gay campaigns - a story told in their own words - needs to be seen by as many people as possible. And, getting "Question One" into Landmark's theaters in 21 cities would be a major step in the right direction. You can watch the six minute trailer here.

More from Nemitz:

New York City-based filmmakers Joe Fox and James Nubile were allowed in with their cameras by both sides – giving the documentarians, and now us, a strikingly unvarnished view of what went on behind the scenes during those oh-so-divisive days two years ago.

Help us get this critical documentary shown at Landmark's theaters across the country. Send an email to Q1Landmark@gmail.com, and tell Landmark that you think they should show "Question One" in their theaters, and if you'd like to explain why you think it's important for Landmark to show the documentary, that would certainly be welcome. But even a short note letting Landmark know that you and your friends woulde go see the film if they showed it, would be very helpful. Joe and James will then hand deliver your emails to a Landmark executive.

Share on Twitter:

Send a Tweet to Landmark urging them to show "Question One" in their theaters: @LandmarkLTC
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Thanks so much. JOHN Read the rest of this post...

Maine marriage campaign officially launches today

Saturday night I attended the EqualityMaine Annual Awards Dinner in Portland where they announced today’s launch of this year’s marriage campaign, Mainers United for Marriage (you can follow on Twitter and Facebook). The campaign will be managed by Matt McTighe, GLAD’s Director of Public Education for Maine, and the former Political Director for MassEquality.

On a call with bloggers on Monday night, McTighe pointed to the existing volunteer base across the state, over 50,000 one-on-one conversations (with more than 110,000 door knocks and more than 90,000 phone calls placed), and several recent polls putting the support for marriage equality at 54% in Maine as a strong starting point for the campaign. Additionally, supporters on the ground have already run six ads in several rural counties which listed the names of supporters in those towns.

The campaign seems to have a strong start in terms of public support, but there is a lot to be done in the coming months to build on the 54% support through personal conversations with supporters. While voter turnout will be higher (and younger) in a presidential election year, there is a lot of work to be done, and opponents have already started to organize.

One awardee at the dinner on Saturday was Michael Gray, the pastor of the Old Orchard Beach United Methodist Church, who was recognized at the dinner with the Faith in Action Award. Watch Gray’s speech below from the press conference where more than 105,000 signatures (over 10% of voters in Maine) were submitted to put marriage back on the ballot. Stories like his, and even the names of supporters in rural county newspapers, are seen as key to reaching and persuading voters to come around to support marriage this time around.

It comes down to this: People don’t like to change their minds because it’s uncomfortable to admit they were wrong - especially on something as significant as denying equal rights to LGBT people. These stories of people “like me” who have changed their minds are an important tool to get potential supporters over the mental hurdle of changing their mind on an issue that is this big. It’s a way of providing cover and making it easier for people to change their minds.

Some will read this and say that our rights should never be put to popular vote, which I agree with in principle. The reality in Maine, however, is that the public will get to vote on this one way or another. Marriage equality would not have passed the republican controlled legislature, and no way that Governor LePage would have signed the bill. Even suspending the reality of those two barriers, the “people’s veto” would mean that voters would once again see this on the ballot (as they did when the legislature and Governor Baldacci passed it). This campaign is a chance to bring the question to voters on our terms and with time to organize and continue the on the ground work that the supporters and staff started in 2009 (and haven’t stopped). This is the only path in the near future for Mainers to see marriage equality.

Read the rest of this post...

PPP: "looks like Maine voters will reverse their 2009 decision and legalize gay marriage in the state this fall"

I vividly remember staying up til late on the Sunday before the 2009 Maine referendum on marriage to see the results of PPP's poll. It showed us losing 51% - 47%. I had seen another poll earlier in the day showing our side winning. But, unfortunately, PPP was pretty much spot on. We lost 53% - 47%.

So, these latest numbers from PPP are encouraging:

It looks like Maine voters will reverse their 2009 decision and legalize gay marriage in the state this fall. 54% think that gay marriage should be legal to only 41% who think it should be illegal. And when we asked about the issue using the exact language voters will see on the ballot this fall, they say they're inclined to support the referendum by a 47-32 margin.

There's some indication that the exact ballot language is confusing people a little at this point. Only 67% of those who support gay marriage in general say they'll vote yes while 12% say they'll not and 21% are not sure. At the same time just 60% of those who oppose gay marriage generally say they'll vote against the proposed referendum, while 24% say they'll vote for it and 16% are not sure. My guess is at the end of the day voters will see this as a straight referendum on gay marriage regardless of what the language on the ballot says- and the 54/41 number bodes well for pro-equality voters.

Republicans' opinions are pretty much the same as they were in 2009. But Democrats' support for gay marriage has increased slightly, from 71% to 78%. And more importantly independents have gone from voting against gay marriage 52/46 three years ago to now supporting it by a 57/36 margin.

That latest number on independents is important. Given the recent spate of positive polls on marriage, one would think that the President might finally evolve and get on the right side of history. Clearly, the momentum is on our side. Read the rest of this post...

Maine's Bishop to hold presser on marriage campaign. Will he admit to lying in 2009?

The Bishop of Maine, Richard Malone, who has made gay bashing a top priority, is holding a press conference today at 1:30 PM ET to discuss the role he'll be playing this year.

I do hope someone in the media will ask him about the comments made by his top aide, Mark Mutty, about the last campaign. Mutty appears in the documentary, Question 1, and admits his side lied:

"We use a lot of hyperbole and I think that's always dangerous," says Mutty during a Yes on 1 strategy session, at the time on leave from his job as public affairs director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine.

"You know, we say things like 'Teachers will be forced to (teach same-sex marriage in schools)!' " he continues. "Well, that's not a completely accurate statement and we all know it isn't, you know?"

"No," interjects a woman off-camera. "We don't say that."

"Let's look back at our ads and see what we say," Mutty persists. "And I think we use hyperbole to the point where, you know, it's like 'Geez!' "

The documentary, co-directed by New York City filmmakers Joe Fox and James Nubile, is a story in itself.

They lied. And, they spent a lot of money to lie. No doubt, Malone is going to launch the same homophobic campaign this year.

Watch for yourself. This is Mutty speaking in the documentary.


The Catholic Church is trying to drive wedges between Catholic families. They want parents to choose the church over their children. Fortunately, that happens less and less. Most Catholics know that their Church's leaders are grievously flawed. Who would side with the enablers and coddlers of child rapists over their own family members?

Granted, I'm a lapsed Catholic. But, I do remember some commandment about bearing false witness. But, when it comes to gay issues, Malone is willing to lie - for the Lord, of course. Read the rest of this post...

US Supreme Court declines to hear the NOM's appeal to keep donors secret

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court rejected the National Organization for Marriage's appeal of a US appeals court decision that upheld Maine's election laws that require organizations to disclose their donors. In 2009 NOM spent $1.8 million dollars to help repeal marriage equality in Maine. From Reuters:

"These provisions neither erect a barrier to political speech nor limit its quantity. Rather, they promote the dissemination of information about those who deliver and finance political speech, thereby encouraging efficient operation of the marketplace of ideas," the appeals court ruled...

...[NOM] filed the lawsuit in 2009 and claimed the laws violated its constitutional free-speech and due process rights.

Maine defended its laws and said they were designed to inform voters about who is spending money to influence their votes. The federal government and most other states have similar requirements, it said.

Based on how hard they've fought against revealing their donors, I'm guessing we'll see a very small set of very big donors. If there is one thing voters in Maine don't like, it's the feeling that a few outside forces are trying to buy their elections. Read the rest of this post...

Marriage equality officially back on the ballot in Maine

The Maine Secretary of State has confirmed that EqualityMaine and the coalition behind the push for marriage equality in Maine has collected nearly 85,216 signatures to put marriage back on the ballot in 2012. That's nearly 28,000 more signatures than required by law. From the Portland Press Herald:

Lawmakers have the option of passing the bill as proposed, but they likely will send it to voters in November. Advocates of same-sex marriage, who lost in 2009 at the ballot box in a 53-47 percent vote, say enough Mainers have changed their minds that the measure will pass this time.

"The story of the 2012 campaign is not going to be gay folk coming out and supporting this, it's going to be heterosexuals like myself coming out in support of gay marriage," said Michael Gray, pastor of the Old Orchard Beach United Methodist Church. "We're now realizing how important it is for us to speak up."

EqualityMaine reports that polling now shows that 54% of Maine citizens are supportive of equality. Marriage was defeated in 2009 by a 53-47 percent vote.

Based on reporting, it appears that once again the opposition will be led by Bishop Richard Malone of the Catholic Diocese, Bob Emrich of the Christian Civic League and the National Organization for Marriage. Read the rest of this post...

Maine trying kinder gentler ads for gay marriage battle

There's a rift in the community between those who feel these empathetic pro-marriage ads are too milquetoast, too lukewarm, too accepting of the voters' prejudices. I'm not so sure I agree. I enjoy in your face ads that call it bigotry, but I have no idea if ads like that work. I'm definitely intrigued by ads that show religious people saying they too had qualms about gay marriage, but then they thought about it, and thought about their gay friends, and realized it was the right thing to do. A lot of people think that's too wimpy, but I'm not sure it's such a bad idea meeting people halfway, acknowledging that a lot of people aren't sure about gays using the word "marriage," and addressing the issue head on. And in the end, I'd want to see data - focus group data - on what works, because I don't know that any of our opinions are even valid, as we're not exactly the target audience for the ads. Read the rest of this post...

Growing number of Maine independents support marriage equality

From ThinkProgress:

A new poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP) finds that support for marriage equality is increasing among independents in Maine, just two years after the state “narrowly voted to overturn a law allowing same sex couples to marry.” Fifty-one percent of voters say they support marriage equality, including 53 percent of independents.

Read the rest of this post...

Maine marriage initiative moves to signature gathering, next part of process to get on ballot

Via press release from Dirigo Family PAC (Dirigo is the Maine state motto, which means "I lead"):

Today, same-sex marriage advocates in Maine announced that a citizen initiative campaign for a law allowing same-sex couples to marry cleared its first major hurdle with the Secretary of State’s approval of the language of the proposed statute. This allows campaign volunteers and supporters to begin collecting the signatures required to put “An Act to Allow Marriage Licenses for Same-Sex Couples and Protect Religious Freedom” on the November 2012 ballot.

“I’m grateful to Secretary of State Summers for promptly approving the language of the proposed law to let same-sex couples marry in Maine,” said Pastor Michael Gray of Old Orchard Beach United Methodist Church, one of six original signers of the initiative petition. “As campaign volunteers fan out across the state to collect signatures from their fellow Mainers I expect they will encounter thousands of willing signers who have changed their hearts and minds on marriage after getting to know their gay and lesbian neighbors, co-workers and community members – just as I have done.”

The management of a ballot campaign required the creation of a political action committee, which in this case is called the Dirigo Family PAC. Its first job will be to oversee the grassroots signature gathering effort with the help of thousands of volunteers and dozens of Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition partners. Beginning this weekend, they will be knocking on doors, canvassing their neighborhoods and gathering signatures in the communities where they live. The PAC plans to gather at least 80, 000 signatures, which must be submitted to the Secretary of State’s office for certification in January of 2012. At the same time, EqualityMaine, GLAD and our Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition partners will continue the critical public education work to strengthen support for the freedom to marry in Maine. Learn more about their work at WhyMarriageMattersMaine.com.

So, the first hurdle has been reached, now it's on to the signature gathering.

As noted in the release, the Secretary of State will certify the signatures in January 2012. From there, this doesn't go directly to the November 2012 ballot. Instead, it goes to the Legislature. And, in Maine, for the first time in decades, both Houses are controlled by Republicans. The state also has a real nutjob teabagger for its Governor.

There's more. Maine Constitution (Article IV. - Part Third, Section 18 (2)) not only requires the initiative to be submitted to the Maine Legislature, it gives the legislature options. First, the Legislature could just pass the initiative. That won't happen. The Legislature can also offer a competing measure, on the same issue:

The measure thus proposed, unless enacted without change by the Legislature at the session at which it is presented, shall be submitted to the electors together with any amended form, substitute, or recommendation of the Legislature, and in such manner that the people can choose between the competing measures or reject both.

If the GOPers pass a "competing measure," there would be two initiatives on the ballot in November 2012. One would be marriage. One would be whatever the GOPers concocted with the intent of defeating marriage. It's not unusual for the Maine Legislature to offer its own ballot measure. In fact, it has happened often. So, before we even get to the ballot, there could be a fierce legislative battle at the beginning of next year just to make sure all this hard work isn't undermined by the GOPers who control the State House in Augusta. Who knows what they'd come up with to derail the marriage initiative. But, you have to know they're already plotting.

So, there's a long way to go until Mainers actually vote on marriage. I'm just really hoping there's a well thought out strategy to get there -- and to win.


Read the rest of this post...