Bill in Portland Maine has a great letter to the editor in today's Portland Press Herald. As many of you know, Maine's legislature recently passed a marriage equality law. Of course, the Catholic church and the fundamentalists are against it and appear to have have gathered enough signatures to put a "people's veto" on the ballot this fall.
Bill hits the nail on the head in today's Portland Press Herald pointing out how outside money and outside organizations are behind the ballot initiative to repeal the law:
Leading the pro-equality side will be the group Maine Freedom to Marry, which is headed by Mainer Jesse Connelly and staffed by Mainers who intend to have a civil debate, Mainer-to-Mainer.
Leading the anti-equality side are out-of staters, including James Dobson's Focus on the Family from Colorado, the PR firm of Schubert Flint from California (whose Proposition 8 campaign in that state was heavily funded by leaders of the Mormon Church based in Utah), and the National Organization for Marriage, which is headquartered in New Jersey.
Not only that, but they have been dishonest in collecting signatures, asking people if they want to sign a petition to support marriage, using a group from Michigan. My husband got approached and was asked if he wanted to sign "to choose who you can marry in Maine." I've heard the same from others.
Earlier this week there was also a column by another great Portland Bill, Bill Nemitz about how the marriage discrimination group is being told by these outsiders to be ready to be a target.
More recently, Mutty said, consultants from California who were hired to help with the Maine repeal effort have warned repeatedly that this is dangerous business and security should be of paramount concern.
and
"For security reasons, please do not give the physical location of the SFMM (Stand for Marriage Maine) office to anyone. It's imperative that no one else know the location."
Again, outsiders are stirring fears; we know Mainers aren't like that. So, cheers to Bill, for saying it like it is!