No on 1
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Bigotry in Maine
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The Bradley Effect on Gay Marriage Polls
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President Obama is Not to Blame for Marriage Equality's Loss in Maine
Tomorrow, Maine Voters Have the Next Say on Marriage Equality
Published November 02, 2009 @ 05:04AM PT
Maine voters head to the polls tomorrow (that is, if they havent already participated in 'early voting') to determine whether a state law that recognizes marriage equality can stay on the books. Thousands of volunteers have poured into Maine for the final stretch, working a Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) campaign that is as impressive as it is important. But this is still going to come down to the wire.
A new, and very humbling, poll was issued by Public Policy Polling (PPP) today showing that supporters of Question 1 (a "Yes" vote on Question 1 will rescind marriage rights for gays and lesbians) are slightly ahead of opponents of Question 1. It's still within the margin of error, but 24 hours before polls open, it's always a bit shocking to see the good guys losing.
PPP has the race at 51 percent of Maine voters rejecting same-sex marriage, and 47 percent supporting it. With results that close, this thing is going to come down to turn-out, turn-out, and then more turn-out.
By any stretch the No on Question 1 campaign has run a far more superior campaign, praised by everyone from the Governor of Maine to national newspapers. Anti-LGBT folks have resorted to fear once again -- like they did in California, and like they've done in more than 30 other states that have passed laws banning same-sex marriage. Their campaign has known no shame, but unfortunately elections aren't always determined by integrity and honor. They're determined by who gets their asses out and votes.
The No on 1 campaign has released their final television commercial for the campaign, and it lays things down on the line. "Maine has a clear choice," the ad says. "We can choose to treat some Maine families differently. To make these families feel shame. To deny them basic protections like health care, or making sure their children are cared for if a parent dies...or we can choose equality."
Hope, pray, and for sure if you have the means, get up to Maine and help equality win at the ballot box for the first time in regards to marriage equality.
Watch the No on 1 campaign ad after the jump.
Catholic Church Goes After Straight Allies of Marriage Equality
Published November 01, 2009 @ 08:39AM PT
Though it's no fun seeing same-sex marriage rights placed on a statewide ballot, one of the best things to come out of the Maine vote on marriage equality is the fact that progressive-minded Catholics are starting to speak out for the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. Through groups of "Catholics for Marriage Equality" and other venues, ordinary Catholics are speaking up in new ways arguing that love should win out over hate.
It's just too bad that the institutional Catholic Church can't let go of their anti-LGBT agenda. Maine is an interesting case study here. Despite the fact that the Bishop of Maine (Richard Malone) has had to close more than a half dozen parishes this year because of financial constraints, the Catholic Church in Maine has pumped out more than half a million dollars to urge Maine residents to vote for discrimination against gays and lesbians. Worse yet, Bishop Malone has said that giving equal rights to gays and lesbians is a dangerous sociological experiment and that same-sex marriage would be a threat to children.
But what's even scarier is that the Catholic Church in Maine is now punishing straight people who support the rights of gays and lesbians. Look no further than the ironically named Prince of Peace parish in Lewiston, Maine. There, a Eucharistic Minister and lector (the person who volunteers to read the weekly scriptures) was removed from her position because she said publicly that she supports the rights of gays and lesbians to get married.
The Catholic Church has had some real lows this year when it comes to LGBT rights. From the Pope saying that LGBT people were as big a threat to the world as climate change, to the U.S. bishops prepping a document to be released later this month that will say that same-sex marriage will harm the intrinsic human dignity in every person. Add to this list now a possible witch-hunt to identity straight allies of same-sex marriage, and to remove these straight allies from any positions within the Church.
This WWII Veteran Fought for the Rights of Gays and Lesbians to Marry
Published October 22, 2009 @ 10:48AM PT
Sometimes a touching narrative is the most powerful weapon for a social justice campaign. Case in point, the story of Philip Spooner, an 86-year-old WWII veteran who made remarks earlier this year before the Maine State Legislature on why he's a gay marriage supporter. The clip of those remarks is reverberating across the blogosphere, peaking at an important time as voters in both Maine and Washington prepare to deal with ballot measures that could repeal civil rights for gays and lesbians.
Spooner's words tell the story itself. But it's worth noting that Spooner believes that the soldiers who fought at the Battles of Buna-Gona, Bismarck Sea, Mindanao, Iwo Jima, the Normandy Campaign and all of the battles of World War II fought and died so that everyone could be entitled to civil rights. In Spooner's words, "What do you think our boys fought for at Omaha Beach? I haven't seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for."
Hard to put it any more authentic than that. Check out the video below.
Wanna Place a Bet on Gay Marriage?
Published October 21, 2009 @ 02:00PM PT
Place a conservative commentator on the spot, and you're likely to get them to say the darndest things. Case in point, NY Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat was a featured speaker at an n+1 panel in New York last night, and he was asked about the issue of gay marriage. His reaction?
Conservative opposition to gay marriage is a losing argument.
Douthat himself does not get all warm and fuzzy about the idea of gays and lesbians marrying. He opposes same-sex marriage on religious grounds. But he's also wise enough to know that his line of thinking isn't where the arc of this country's history is heading. Opposing gay marriage now is almost like opposing the repeal of Jim Crow laws fifty years ago. Eventually the court of public opinion is going to decide this matter, and the court of public opinion belongs to advocates of marriage equality.
Douthat also spoke with the Observer after the n+1 event, and added that if he were a betting man, he wouldn't be betting against gay marriage.
"The secular arguments against gay marriage, when they aren't just based on bigotry or custom, tend to be abstract in ways that don't find purchase in American political discourse. I say, ‘Institutional support for reproduction,' you say, ‘I love my boyfriend and I want to marry him.' Who wins that debate? You win that debate," said Douthat. "If I were putting money on the future of gay marriage, I would bet on it."
Another conservative has come around that marriage equality is a matter of "when," not "if." Maybe part of that "when" happens this November in Maine, if gay rights supporters can make the state the first to fight back against a ballot measure that bashes gay marriage.
Maine Newspapers Agree: Let Gays Marry
Published October 18, 2009 @ 05:58AM PT
In just over two weeks, voters will head to the polls in Maine and decide whether or not same-sex marriage will be allowed to stay legal in the state, or whether right-wing pundits and religious leaders will succeed in scaling back civil rights for gay and lesbian couples. The question voters will decide -- Question 1, officially -- asks Maine voters this:
Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?
The No on 1 campaign, which is leading the fight in the state to protect marriage equality, is doing a bang up job. Through this week they were on television more than opponents, and have responded with amazing fundraising prowess (thanks to the netroots!). That's all the more important because in Maine, the official Roman Catholic Church has decided to make fighting gays and lesbians the bread and butter of their faith this year, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to help pass the discriminatory ballot measure known as Question 1.
Poll numbers show a tight race, and that marriage equality advocates cannot let up (all the more so now that early voting has started).
One set of good news? Two major Maine newspapers have come out on behalf of equality. The first is the Bangor Daily News, one of the larger papers in the state. They have an absolute kick ass editorial this weekend on why Mainers should preserve the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. And the editorial delivers a sucker punch right into the mid-section of the Maine Catholic Church, which has tried to paint gays and lesbians as destabilizing threats to the common good. Check out the money line:
"The repeal effort has been led by the Roman Catholic Diocese. Bishop Richard Malone called same-sex marriage 'a dangerous sociological experiment.' The fact that gay couples have existed for generations — many of them raising children — counters this argument," the paper said. "Worse, however, is the church’s attempt to force its views on all Maine’s residents, whether they are Catholic or not."
The paper goes on to point out that Maine's governor who signed marriage equality into law, Gov. John Baldacci, is a Catholic. How's that for some equal rights irony?
The second paper this weekend to come out strongly on behalf of marriage equality in Maine is the Maine Sunday Telegram, Maine's statewide Sunday newspaper. And like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, here are a few of our favorite things from this editorial:
- "Limiting marriage to a man and a woman would not make families led by same-sex couples go away. It would just keep them in a legally inferior position that is inconsistent with Maine's tradition of equal protection under the law."
- "[Marriage equality opponents] argue that extending the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage to families headed by same-sex couples would have broad effects throughout society. We have listened to their arguments, but we just don't buy them."
- "Families led by same-sex partners are here now. They are part of our communities and they need and deserve the legal protections – as well as the dignity – that comes with civil marriage status. Maine voters should recognize that even if their personal beliefs about marriage haven't changed, reality has. They should accept reality and vote "no" on Question 1."
Aren't those lines amazing? It's almost as if marriage equality advocates couldn't ask for better editorials. But then again, the editorials just reflect reality. And that reality is that opponents of marriage equality will go to any length and pursue any bogus argument to try and discriminate against gays and lesbians.
Maine's newspapers are starting to get that opponents of marriage equality don't have much to argue with other than hate. Here's hoping Maine voters think the same thing when they cast their ballots.
Harry Potter and Support for Gay Marriage in Maine
Published October 15, 2009 @ 02:24PM PT
A group of Harry Potter fans want to make sure that if Dumbledore were a real, living character, he would have the right to marry in Maine. That's why the Harry Potter Alliance, a non-profit based in Massachusetts, is coordinating an effort in Maine to urge voters in the state to vote No on Question 1 and preserve marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
The Harry Potter Alliance is dedicated to bringing the themes from the seven "Harry Potter" books into the real world. Among those themes include tolerance, acceptance, love, and fighting the "Dark Arts" of the world. That includes the type of bigotry that comes along with ballot initiatives that repeal basic civil rights for LGBT people.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Harry Potter Alliance will hold two benefit concerts for marriage equality, and participate in a phone bank for the No on 1 campaign.
“The parallels in Harry Potter around equal rights, including marriage equality, abound,” Andrew Slack, the Harry Potter Alliance director, told WSJ.
That's pretty awesome. Now if we can just figure out a way to get fans of "Twilight" to support marriage equality, it shouldn't be long until gay marriage is the most popular thing on the planet.
Belinda Carlisle Thinks Gays Should Be Able to Get Married
Published October 14, 2009 @ 12:25PM PT
"I Get Weak" every time I see a celebrity come out for marriage equality. And sure enough, Belinda Carlisle has a message for the gays: she's "Mad About You." And if she has her way in Maine come this November, equal rights will win at the ballot box and prove that "Heaven is a Place on Earth."
(OK, how about a round of applause for three Belinda Carlisle puns in the opening paragraph! If only they gave out Nobel Prizes for such accomplishments...)
It's true, though, that artist Belinda Carlisle has come out in support of marriage equality in Maine, filming a little promotional video championing equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians in the state. She's not speaking as an artist or public figure, though. She's speaking as a mom with a gay son.
"My son, James, is gay, and I want him and every other gay person out there to have the same opportunities and rights that I’ve had in life," Carlisle says on camera. "After the devastating setback that was Proposition 8, it is absolutely vital that we win this battle in the Pine Tree state. By doing so, we send a strong message to President Obama and our representatives in Washington that public opinion is with us and that it is time for federal action."
Goodness, someone get this woman to run for public office.
Check out the video below, and if you haven't already contributed to the No on 1 campaign via the Moneybomb for Maine, please consider doing so. Support now is more critical than ever, as we're two weeks out and (at least by some poll standards) doing a heckuva job fighting this battle.
