I saw this on Washington Blade's website. That'd be wonderful if Maine joined my state of Connecticut as well as Massachusetts in making same sex marriage legal. http://washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24485
Those are the only 3 states? I thought CA allowed same sex? Or did that get repealed? I thought there were more than 3 states that allowed same sex. (!!)(!!)(!)
Thanks so much for Posting. I am from Maine and I am a volunteer for Equality Maine. We are trying to get marriage put to a peoples vote. senator Damon is proposing a bill that makes marriage not just between one man and one woman but between two committed people. On election day in Nov we hit the polls in only 100 locations state wide collecting signatures. We hoped for 10,000 in one day ..we got over 33,000 (I was at a location that was REALLY rural and didn't expect great numbers but we got over 400 it was heartwarming). I think that the goal is 200,000 by June and there are volunteers out there at events, door to door, cold calling etc statewide. In the Capital we have a woman who is one of the lawyers who helped get it passed in Mass working with Equality Maine at headquarters. There is some opposition though the Maine marriage alliance and Maine marriage initiative mostly run by a man named Micheal Heath. We did get a jump start though by going to the polls unannounced and without media, so at the end of the day they had no idea what hit them! And election day was over so it was not like they could set up tables. we are surrounded by states who are more accepting Mass, conn, Vermont, Canada and NH is also trying to get it pass. It is time Mainers took a step to give equal rights to their residents (and let me marry my wife LOL). If you Live in Maine please go to equalitymaine . org and volunteer, or write to your representative (there is an easy link on the web site). Wish us luck and I am so glad this is getting some national attention I saw it in the Boston pride magazine yesterday! I can't pray hard enough!!!! GO MAINE. thanks again for posting -Jen
ok I don't live in Maine so I can't exactly contribute my time, is there any way I could donate using my paypal without re-entering my CC info on the website? I'm a little tentative about my CC# being on several servers, which is why I prefer paypal...they could easily set one up if you asked I'm sure.
Hey Tazz thank you for posting on behalf of equality maine, I am not sure if they take pay pal but they would gladly accept a check . go to www.equalitymaine.org and there is a spot for donations I am sure they would appreciate it. I have a form for cash at the house but the website is prob your best bet. That is our biggest prob is funding because the churches have so much and now focus on the Family is helping to fund the opposition. (google them they are fanatics with a ton of money that run the "turn kids straight" groups and camps they are on Doc phil all the time. Arrggg. thanks again for the interest, are you originally from maine? -Jen
Now, not to be rude, but don't you think this is a very bad idea from a constitutional standpoint? We put gay marriage up to a people's vote in CA and it didn't turn out well. Now, perhaps the citizens of Maine would instead approve gay marriage, but I still think that, in principle, these things should be decided by the courts. After all, this is what the CA attorney general argued in their supreme court recently; that fundamental rights whould not be put up for a popular vote but should stay in the courts.
this subject feels odd for me i love democracy i believe people have the right to vote and have theyre say but i also think there has to be equality. my view is that this subject goes above public only decision they should have a say but not a final one because a public vote should be on something that has an affect on everyone same sex marriage doesent affect everyone and people can be bias and have other reasoning to object which is denying people the equal rights in free society. the usa is the land of the free and the just and so must uphold the rights of all citizens thats just my two cents anyway
Slight difference here. In California they voted to take away an already established right. In Maine they want a vote to grant a right that does not exist. In all honestly given a choice I would rather have a right given by a vote of the people than given by the courts.
Ugh. What difference does it make if you get it by the courts or by the people? Oh wait. I remember. You will not get those rights if left up to the public. And besides, judges tend to look to other cases to see if they have been overturned in courts elsewhere when decided constitutional amendments. Don't you want other states to have their courts see the shining example laid out by Maine? Californians only got the right to marry when a court overturned Prop 22. I completely agree with NathanHaleFan. Gay marriage will never be won in the public arena. It will be won through the courts or possibly the legislative system. It probably won't even come down to a state-by-state change either. Like in Canada, it will be mandated at the federal level. Furthermore, why anyone would ever want a vote on people's rights? I thought one of the slogans was: "We didn't vote on your marriage!"
Man, all this talk of same sex marriage in Maine makes me want to move back to New England once I'm done with school.:icon_bigg
