All I can regarding this development is: Thank God the people of Maine had
enough common sense to put their maverick legislators in their proper place
by rejecting same-sex "marriage". Let's hope that this trend continues, and
that constituents in other states will likewise continue to reject the
ungodly, unholy madness that is same-sex "marriage".

Following is an article from the New York Times regarding the latest
developments in the US state of Maine.


Gay Rights Rebuke May Change Approach

By ABBY GOODNOUGH - NYT

November 4, 2009


They had far more money and volunteers, and geography was on their side,
given that New England has been more accepting of same-sex marriage than any
other region of the country. Yet gay rights supporters suffered a crushing
loss when voters decided to repeal Maine's new law allowing gay men and
lesbians to wed, setting back a movement that had made remarkable progress
nationally this year.

Maine, with its libertarian leanings, had seemed to offer an excellent
chance of reversing the national trend of voters rejecting marriage equality
at the ballot box. Instead, it became the 31st state to block same-sex
marriage through a public referendum.

At a time when gay rights activists believe that President Obama is not
treating their agenda as a high priority, the Maine loss has left them
asking who their friends are. At stake, they say, is not only same-sex
marriage, but the military's ban on openly gay service members and the
federal law banning same-sex marriage.

State legislatures had been viewed as new allies in the fight for same-sex
marriage after lawmakers in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire approved such
bills this year. But now, with Maine voters dealing a rebuke to their
Legislature, it is far from clear whether elected officials -- including the
president -- will risk political capital on gay rights.

Tuesday's defeat is also likely to further splinter a movement that has been
debating the best tactics for success. Some prominent gay politicians last
month skipped a gay rights march in Washington, questioning its purpose,
which emboldened some of the younger advocates at the march to call for a
new generation of leaders.

Some advocates said they were unimpressed last month when President Obama
signed a law against gay hate crimes but offered relatively restrained
remarks. They questioned whether it was time to take a more confrontational
posture toward Mr. Obama, who benefited during the 2008 campaign from a
surge of votes and donations from gay men and lesbians.

In Maine, advocates had stuck to a familiar path: using their own personal
stories, they tried to persuade voters that gay people were no different
from their straight neighbors and deserved equal treatment under the law.

Now, many will argue that that approach is not enough. Some are already
pressing for more aggressive tactics, like speeding up a ballot measure to
reverse California's ban on same-sex marriage next year, instead of taking
more time to build support. Others want to focus on swaying federal
lawmakers to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which Representative Barney
Frank, the nation's highest-ranking openly gay politician, has called
foolish at this point.

"The state-by-state strategy that looked clever a few years ago has run its
course," said Richard Socarides, who advised President Bill Clinton on gay
issues. "The states that were easy to get have been gotten."

This year, Iowa, New Hampshire and Vermont joined Massachusetts and
Connecticut in allowing same-sex marriage, but only through court rulings
and legislative action.

The tactic of using personal conversations to press for marriage equality
will not be abandoned after Tuesday's resounding vote, and several advocates
said that, if anything, the defeat called for more such conversations around
the country.

Evan Wolfson, executive director of the national gay rights group Freedom to
Marry, said the loss in Maine underscored "the fact that we need to continue
those conversations and make ourselves visible as families in communities."

He added, "It shows we have just not done it long enough and deep enough,
even in a place like Maine."

But opponents said that given Maine's "live-and-let live" mentality, the
results were especially strong proof that same-sex marriage was not gaining
acceptance.

"It interrupts the story line that is being manufactured that suggests the
culture has shifted on gay marriage and the fight is over," said Maggie
Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, the
conservative Christian group that is leading the charge against same-sex
marriage around the country. "Maine is one of the most secular states in the
nation. It's socially liberal. They had a three-year head start to build
their organization, and they outspent us two to one. If they can't win
there, it really does tell you the majority of Americans are not on board
with this gay marriage thing."

Voter turnout was higher than expected in Maine -- perhaps 50 percent,
officials said -- but not nearly as high as in last year's presidential
election, which drew record numbers of young people to the polls. Opponents
of the repeal sought to mobilize college students, who tend to support
same-sex marriage, but the outcome suggests they might not have succeeded.

The next battlefields are New Jersey and New York, whose Democratic
governors were pressing lawmakers to pass same-sex marriage bills by the end
of the year, and California, where voters approved a constitutional ban on
same-sex marriage last November. Gay rights groups there are likely to seek
a ballot measure reversing the ban by 2012. A federal lawsuit challenging
the prohibition is scheduled to go to trial in January and is expected to
make its way to the Supreme Court.

In New Jersey, Gov. Jon S. Corzine's loss on Tuesday to Christopher J.
Christie, a Republican who opposes same-sex marriage, dealt another
potential blow to the movement. Mr. Christie has vowed to veto any same-sex
marriage bill that reaches his desk, but Mr. Corzine could still sign a bill
into law if the legislature approves it before January.

The City Council in the District of Columbia also appears poised to pass a
same-sex marriage law, although opponents are seeking a referendum that
would ask voters to ban it.

A more long-term, complex question is whether gay rights supporters can
reverse the constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in some 30 states that
have enacted them since 2000. The outcome in Maine reinforces voters'
reluctance to endorse same-sex marriage, which national polls echo, though
the gap is narrowing. And supporters acknowledge they would much rather
avoid ballot questions.

"They tend to marginalize the group that is being targeted and inflame
people's passions in a way that is at best divisive and at worst terribly
cruel," said Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage project director for Lambda Legal,
a national advocacy group. "Our founders did not intend to allow a majority
to take basic rights from a minority."

Still, a group in Oregon announced Monday that it would seek a repeal of a
constitutional ban there, perhaps as soon as 2012. Oregon voters approved
the ban in 2004, and gay rights groups have been quietly building support
for a repeal.

But in general, supporters are more likely to focus on states with statutory
bans on gay marriage, which legislatures can reverse without voter approval.
One such state is Washington, where preliminary returns from Tuesday's
election showed voters approving an expansion of a domestic partnership law
that would give gay couples more state-granted legal protections.

Opponents of same-sex marriage said the outcome in Maine should make
lawmakers in other states nervous about endorsing it.

"We're already hearing in both New York and New Jersey that they are
noticing what's happening here," Ms. Gallagher said. "Do other politicians
really want to enter this particular culture war given all the stuff they
are going to have to defend in the next election?"


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