Maybe this has been done. Well, yeah it has been done. But, I feel the need to publicly apologize to this community for what happened last night in Maine.
Last night I was happily exchanging high fives with Kossacks in anticipation of my state becoming the first state in our union to formally legalize "gay marriage." Well, we had already legalized "gay marriage." In a grueling process, my State Senator, the very courageous Dennis Damon introduced a bill to legalize marriage between all citizens of Maine regardless of gender. It was a courageous move for many reasons, the most obvious of which was he received many credible death threats for doing so. After the introduction of the bill the long tedious legislative process finally passed the bill. That wasn't easy either. There were hearings and demonstrations and many elected representatives put their careers on the line for this bill. In the end, waffling Governor John Baldacci reversed himself and signed the bill into law. Well, almost . . .
Because as we all know, even though Maine's elected representatives from both houses and the Governor had approved the bill, it was not yet law. Why? Because of a "people's veto" challenge. The wingbats of this state had to scare up a ridiculously small number of signatures to put on the ballot a measure to overturn that law. Now, is that direct democracy or an opening to overturn the decision of hundreds of elected representatives from across Maine who ran in real contested elections and will (most of them) answer for their vote on this legislation in elections to come? Currently Maine is plagued by these referenda every year . . . any wingnut who doesn't want to pay taxes on his Hummer or (in this case) doesn't want homosexuals to marry, well, you just need a few signatures and boom there you go. The people of Maine who vote in of year elections will decide what is the law--not our elected representatives.
Which brings us to the sad events of yesterday. The people of Maine, who vote in off year elections, decided that their elected representatives were wrong. They decided that all people in this state can't be married. It was an ugly campaign to overturn the work of Maine's elected representatives and it was financed primarily by out-of- staters and the Catholic Church. Basically they told Mainers that the law recognizing "gay marriage" would turn their kids into homosexuals. It was as simple as that. Crude, but apparently effective. The "No on 1" campaign fought hard with excellent mailers, calls, and a GOTV effort. They fought hard and well and all the money Kossacks gave them was used to effect.
I went to bed last night confident "No on 1" would win. I hadn't done much myself other than voting and urging others to vote. And for that, I'm sorry. I worked very hard last year and I have to admit the prospects of being yelled at and hung up on this year just didn't appeal. And for that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Maybe I could have changed some minds. Maybe I could have re-assured the wavering that they were not alone.
Finally, don't blame Maine. The elected representatives of the people of Maine enacted a law to legalize marriage for all. It was overturned by a deeply flawed referendum process and millions of out of state dollars. Mainers are a live and let live bunch. We all know each other. We all know LGBT people and love them and understand they are no different than us. We have tight communities where we judge people on their contributions not their sexual orientation. That is why I was so stunned by what happened. So forgive me, and forgive Maine. We will get there some day. We are now at the mountain top . . .