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The Associated Press
Maine voters keep gay rights law on the books
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press Writer | November 9, 2005
AUGUSTA, Maine --Maine voters decided Tuesday to keep the state's gay rights law on the books, making Maine the last New England state to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.
With returns from 84 percent of the state's 634 precincts, votes supporting the gay rights law were ahead 55 percent to 45 percent over those seeking to overturn the law that was approved by the Legislature. The count was 189,535 to 153,674.
The vote "reaffirms the basic values that are intrinsic in Maine," said Gov. John Baldacci, who signed the law earlier this year before it was put on hold by the pending referendum. "Mainers don't like discrimination ... if it happens to one person it happens to all of us."
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, calls the outcome "a much-needed victory in our national movement" after a string of losses in other states on gay marriage issues. "We needed to show we can win."
Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition, which wanted to repeal the law, did not immediately return a phone message. But the pro-repeal side, hoping for a turnaround as votes were counted in small towns, refused to throw in the towel even as the other side claimed victory.
The issue, which was put to a statewide vote for the third time since 1998, pitted a coalition of mainstream religious and business groups and politicians against a network of Christian church groups that viewed gay rights as an assault on traditional marriage.
Tuesday's vote was a referendum on the law, enacted earlier this year, to amend the Maine Human Rights Act by making discrimination illegal in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and education based on sexual orientation.
The Maine law already prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, disability, religion, ancestry and national origin. The gay rights provision was broadly worded to protect transsexuals, transvestites and those who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery, in addition to homosexuals.
The law exempts religious organizations that do not receive public funds. It also is worded to say it is not meant to address a right to marry.
A similar gay rights law, which was passed by the Legislature with a referendum provision, was rejected by voters in 2000. Two years earlier, an earlier version of the law was rejected at the polls in a special election that was called under Maine's people's veto process.
The difference this time was a change in attitudes, "a strong and consistent message" and involvement of young people in the campaign, said Ted O'Meara of Maine Won't Discriminate.
"Sometimes these struggles take time," said O'Meara.
Leading up to this fall's vote, both sides reached out to their well-established bases to reinforce their messages, while keeping advertising for the electorate at large low-key.
Maine Won't Discriminate, representing the coalition calling for protections, cited cases in which workers were fired, barred from overnight accommodations and harassed in school because there was no law to protect them.
The Christian Civic League of Maine and Maine Grassroots Coalition, drawing on support from evangelical churches across the state, saw the gay rights law as a step toward legalized gay marriage.
Maine voters keep gay rights law on the books
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press Writer | November 9, 2005
AUGUSTA, Maine --Maine voters decided Tuesday to keep the state's gay rights law on the books, making Maine the last New England state to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.
With returns from 84 percent of the state's 634 precincts, votes supporting the gay rights law were ahead 55 percent to 45 percent over those seeking to overturn the law that was approved by the Legislature. The count was 189,535 to 153,674.
The vote "reaffirms the basic values that are intrinsic in Maine," said Gov. John Baldacci, who signed the law earlier this year before it was put on hold by the pending referendum. "Mainers don't like discrimination ... if it happens to one person it happens to all of us."
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, calls the outcome "a much-needed victory in our national movement" after a string of losses in other states on gay marriage issues. "We needed to show we can win."
Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition, which wanted to repeal the law, did not immediately return a phone message. But the pro-repeal side, hoping for a turnaround as votes were counted in small towns, refused to throw in the towel even as the other side claimed victory.
The issue, which was put to a statewide vote for the third time since 1998, pitted a coalition of mainstream religious and business groups and politicians against a network of Christian church groups that viewed gay rights as an assault on traditional marriage.
Tuesday's vote was a referendum on the law, enacted earlier this year, to amend the Maine Human Rights Act by making discrimination illegal in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and education based on sexual orientation.
The Maine law already prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, disability, religion, ancestry and national origin. The gay rights provision was broadly worded to protect transsexuals, transvestites and those who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery, in addition to homosexuals.
The law exempts religious organizations that do not receive public funds. It also is worded to say it is not meant to address a right to marry.
A similar gay rights law, which was passed by the Legislature with a referendum provision, was rejected by voters in 2000. Two years earlier, an earlier version of the law was rejected at the polls in a special election that was called under Maine's people's veto process.
The difference this time was a change in attitudes, "a strong and consistent message" and involvement of young people in the campaign, said Ted O'Meara of Maine Won't Discriminate.
"Sometimes these struggles take time," said O'Meara.
Leading up to this fall's vote, both sides reached out to their well-established bases to reinforce their messages, while keeping advertising for the electorate at large low-key.
Maine Won't Discriminate, representing the coalition calling for protections, cited cases in which workers were fired, barred from overnight accommodations and harassed in school because there was no law to protect them.
The Christian Civic League of Maine and Maine Grassroots Coalition, drawing on support from evangelical churches across the state, saw the gay rights law as a step toward legalized gay marriage.
