Maine Ethics Commission Votes 4-1 to Deny NOM's Petition For Investigation Stay

Pam's House Blend
January 29, 2010
The State of Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices will continue their investigation into whether or not the National Organization for Marriage violated Maine law with their campaign against marriage equality in the state. The commission on Thursday denied NOM's petition objecting to the release of the organization's documents. [Link]

Voice for Equality: Peter Mills

Peter Mills is an American politician - a Republican from Maine. Mills currently serves in the Maine Senate, representing the 26th district. He ran for Governor of Maine in 2006, ultimately losing by 2,400 votes in the primary to Chandler Woodcock. Mills has announced he will run again for Governor in 2010. Learn more here.

In 2009, Mills was the only Republican in the Maine Senate to vote for the Freedom to Marry bill and in this interview he expanded on his reasoning, and predicted what he thought would happen at the ballot box in November:

[Link]

Freedom to Marry salutes Maine state Senator Peter Mills as another Republican Voice for Equality! Learn about other Voices for Equality here.

If Senator Mills' support inspires you, get involved!

**Make your NOMINATION for a Voice for Equality today!

Op-Ed: The moral and constitutional case for a right to marry

Daily News (NY)
January 7, 2010
Cato Institute Chairman Robert A. Levy calls marriage equality a constitutional issue, because "[T]he primary purpose of government is to safeguard individual rights and prevent some persons from harming others [...] and no one is harmed by the union of two consenting gay people." [Link]

Maine marriage supporters plan to make it 2010 election issue

Seacoast Online
December 21, 2009
Maine marriage equality advocates have regrouped following repeal of the marriage law at the ballot Nov. 3, and they are working to put like-minded legislators in office in 2010. They also are planning to take a more personal approach with voters than they did in the months leading up to November — an approach that focuses less on identifying likely voters than it does on having conversations with people in the more rural, small-town pockets of Maine. (Link)

California Companies Fight Marriage Equality Nationwide

The New York Times
December 12, 2009
Anti-gay activists nationwide are turning to California companies to head their campaigns against marriage equality in different states. Sacramento-based Schubert Flint Public Affairs was hired as the consultant for the anti-gay campaigns supporting Calif.'s Prop. 8 and Maine's Question 1. [Link]

OP-ED: I Do... Want Benefits, Too

Boston Globe Sunday Magazine
December 7, 2009
Alison Lobron writes that the fight for marriage equality has exposed the fact that single people are unequal to married couples when it comes to obtaining benefits. [Link]

Maine Revisited: Is There a Backlash Against Marriage Equality?

FiveThirtyEight
December 4, 2009
In light of the New York State Senate's decision on Wednesday to vote down the freedom to marry, Nate Silver rexamines what happened last month in Maine, where voters passed Question 1 -- reversing the state legislature's decision to embrace marriage equality -- by roughly a 5-point margin. [Link]

Bangor High School Student Holds Marriage Equality Rally

Bangor Daily News
November 23, 2009
Antonia Carroll, a 16-year-old Bangor High School student, on Sunday organized a rally of more than 60 people, including other high school students, who volunteered for the NO on 1 campaign. Carroll: “We will not stop, and we will not give up until we have equality for all." [Link]

Evan Wolfson Speech to National Employment Lawyers Association of New York

Freedom to Marry
November 20, 2009
Excerpts from Evan Wolfson's speech while being honored by the National Employment Lawyers Association of New York on November 19, 2009:

In Maine a couple weeks ago, the marriage legislation passed earlier in the year was subjected to an up-or-down vote by ballot-measure. A minority should not have to go before the majority and plead for an end to discrimination in a vote on fundamental rights; nevertheless, we came very close to prevailing. The most striking demographic feature was that we overwhelmingly carried the urban areas, while the more rural parts of Maine – and there are a lot of them – voted against equality.

In other words, in places where gay people are most visible, where our families most integrated into the fabric of life, where we’ve had the most conversations about who gay people are and why marriage matters, people affirmed the freedom to marry. In the areas with less visibility and fewer conversations, we narrowly failed to move the just 15,000 more people whose support would have made the difference.

The path ahead is clear: we need more of us, gay and non-gay, speaking with others in our circles and beyond about the shared values of family, fairness, and freedom –the values underlying this human rights movement, a movement in which NELA/NY has played a proud part.

[Link]

EqualityMaine to host series of Community Conversations in December

EqualityMaine
November 19, 2009
EqualityMaine is hosting a series of Community Conversations across the state in December, to debrief the campaign and discuss next steps in winning marriage equality in Maine. Betsy Smith of Maine Equality: "While the numbers favored our opponents on Election Day, we have by no means lost the campaign to win marriage equality." [Link]


Click on dates below for info on Community Conversations:
Sunday, Dec. 6 - Augusta
Monday, Dec 7 - Ogunquit
Tuesday, Dec 8 - Ellsworth
Wed, Dec 9 - Lewiston
Thursday, Dec 10 - Bangor
Tuesday, Dec 15 - Portland

Breakfast with Evan

BobOnARoll
November 14, 2009
A summary of a recent breakfast chat with Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson about current events in the marriage equality movement - including Evan's position that "the most effective technique for advancing marriage equality is the hard work of one-on-one conversations with friends, family, colleagues, and other voters and legislators on a town-by-town, district-by-district, state-by-state basis." [Link]

Op-Ed: COLUMN: Setback for Gay Rights in Maine, But Hope Elsewhere

The Detroit News
November 16, 2009
Deb Price highlights advances for LGBT equality in Wash. state, Kalamazoo, Mich., and other areas of the nation during the 2009 election: "Momentum is now on the side of equality, even when setbacks make the biggest headlines." [Link]

Video: Maine No on 1 Campaign Recap

New Left Media
November 13, 2009
These two videos chronicle the final days of the on-the-ground campaign to protect marriage equality in Maine. [Link]

Observations from the Trenches in Maine

The Huffington Post
November 13, 2009
Jesse Connolly, the former Campaign Manager of No on 1 /Protect Maine Equality, makes a few observations on the recent Question 1 battle in Maine and states, "Let no one doubt -- least of all our opponents -- that we're in this for the long haul, until all Maine families are treated equally." [Link]

Catholic Bishops Help Defeat Marriage Equality in Maine

KMOX.com
November 13, 2009
A total of 45 Catholic bishops, including many with St. Louis ties, contributed funds to the campaign supporting Maine's anti-gay Question 1, donating more than $180,000 to the effort. [Link]

Op-Ed: Marriage Equality Has to Stop Being about Us

Bay Windows
November 4, 2009
There’s a simple reason we didn't win in Maine: we’ve failed to make our cause a universal battle for civil rights. We have to tell our fellow citizens that supporting marriage equality is more about their children than ours. The fact is that the protections the freedom to marry offers are far more important to straight families than our families. They have more offspring and, statistically, are far more likely to have gay or lesbian children. [Link]

The Pain in Maine

The Atlantic
November 4, 2009
Andrew Sullivan takes exception with the argument that the Catholic Church was not a relevant factor in the marriage equality decision in Maine. Sullivan: "when the church makes its priests urge parishioners to deny people civil rights, it does make a difference." [Link]

Video: Evan Wolfson and Maggie Gallagher on Nightline

GoodAsYou
November 10, 2009
Jeremy at Good as You recaps Evan Wolfson’s debate with Maggie Gallagher on ABC Nightline’s webcast. [Link]

Video: Maine's Marriage Equality Vote

ABC News Nightline Twittercast
November 9, 2009
Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson and the National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher debate what the results from Maine's Question 1 decision mean. Debate is in four segments. [Link]

Maine's Gay Marriage Vote Part 1

Maine's Gay Marriage Vote Part 2

Maine's Gay Marriage Vote Part 3

Maine's Gay Marriage Vote Part 4

Marriage Equality Activists Seek Momentum in New York

Reuters
November 9, 2009
LGBT equality advocates hope that in the wake of the passage of Maine's anti-gay Question 1, marriage for same-sex couples can advance in N.Y. with a possible vote in an extraordinary state Senate session Tuesday. [Link]