Anti-Gay ME Group Takes Blanket Approach with New Referendum :: EDGE Boston

Anti-Gay ME Group Takes Blanket Approach with New Referendum :: EDGE Boston

Anti-Gay ME Group Takes Blanket Approach with New Referendum
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Contributor
Thursday Apr 10, 2008




Rights and protections for gays have been on a see-saw nationwide in recent years, with some advances having been made in areas like non-discrimination and civil unions, and many defeats in other areas, such as marriage equality. Now an anti-gay group in Maine seeks to wipe out several categories of gay protections and equities.

The Bangor Daily News published am Apr. 10 article on an attempt by the Christian Civic League of Maine to bring a referendum before voters that would bar gays from several family-equality arenas, including marriage equality, the right to adopt children, or even have civil unions.

The same referendum would also, in a single broad stroke, rescind anti-discrimination protections for GLBT people and de-fund the Attorney General’s civil rights staffing.

The executive director of the anti-gay group, Michael Heath, plans to deploy signature gatherers if and when Maine’s Secretary of State approves the Christian Civic League’s petition, the article said.

To get the referendum on the ballot, the group would need to gather a number equal to 10 percent of the number of voters in the last election for the state’s governor, just around 55,000.

The article quoted Heath as saying, "We’re mindful, politically speaking, of the fact that there are remaining questions with regard to gay rights."

Heath went on to say that, "the only real question remaining is whether same-sex marriage will eventually be allowed under the law."

Though the proposed measure would address far more than the issue of marriage equality, Heath said, "We’ve decided to put our own views out there on this and start the debate."

Heath was also behind an attempt three years ago to put an initiative on the ballot that would have reversed anti-discrimination legislation that protects GLBT citizens, the story said.

That attempt failed, though it did roil the state’s political waters. The executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, Shenna Bellows, referenced that referendum’s defeat, saying, "Mainers have spoken loud and clear that Maine won’t discriminate."

Added Bellows, "We will vigorously oppose this referendum that is founded in hate and fear-mongering."................

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