Just posted this over at gay.AMERICAblog.com, but it needs a lot of amplification. Maine is having a referendum in November on the state's new same-sex marriage law. A lot of attention of late has been focused on California's gay leaders, who continue to suck up a lot of energy trying to decide when and if to launch a campaign next year or in 2012. But, Maine's campaign is real. It's happening this November. And, we have to win.
Kerry Eleveld put the spotlight on the Maine campaign in The Advocate:
Marriage equality opponents led by Stand for Marriage Maine turned in 100,000 signatures -- 45,000 more than necessary -- at the end of July to qualify for the ballot. If they are certified by the state, as everyone expects they will be, Maine’s vote on a so-called "people’s veto" of the marriage law will be the first such vote on the right of gay couples to marry since California’s highly contentious Proposition 8 showdown, which banned same-sex marriage there.Maine is different in so many ways. The campaign to save marriage is being run by some of the best politicos in the state. I know them. They aren't messing around with in-fighting and turf battles, which was too often the case in California during Prop. 8. In Maine, they're focused and playing to win. And, we have to win.
The Maine picture is rife with both similarities and differences to California: Like Prop. 8, analysts expect the battle to be the most expensive referendum campaign held in Maine, though totaling closer to several million dollars rather than the $85 million spent in the Golden State; while it is also a popular vote, Mainers will be weighing in on a law enacted by their legislature rather than a decision rendered by their high court; and although the same company that led the successful fight to ban gay marriage in California -- Schubert Flint Public Affairs -- is also running the opposition's show in Maine, the landscape is a bit different, dominated less by air space than by word of mouth.
Every dollar in Maine will go a long way towards achieving victory. Contribute to the campaign via our ActBlue page here. This quote from the campaign's finance director, Andy Szekeres, sums up the situation:
“But all roads for marriage are running through Maine right now,” he says. “If we want to make a statement to advance the gay rights movement forward across the country, Maine is a good place to start.Maine is a good place to start. And, while the other side will have plenty of money, we can win. If you want to make a statement, contribute to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality.
