Marriage Equality Maine

Marriage equality has long been debated in Maine, starting in 2004 when Maine began allowing domestic partnerships.  This was a nice step in the right direction, but it was a bit like telling black people that, while they can't use your bathroom, they can have their own separate one.  Then in 2009 the Maine State Legislature passed the "Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom" and Governor Baldacci became the first Governor in the country to sign a same sex marriage into law.  Unfortunately the people of Maine petitioned to have the bill voted on and repealed it later that year.

Earlier this year Maine put same sex marriage to a public vote and passed it 53% to 47%, so what was different this time around?  One of the main differences is that it was put to a popular vote and not voted on by the state legislature without the people of the state having any say in the matter - it upset a lot of people that not only did they pass it without the approval of the people, but that the committee investigating the support for such a bill suggested that the issue be put to vote by the voters, and the state senate voted down an amendment to put it to popular vote (it's not a good reason to vote against something like this, but it did upset a lot of people that they didn't get a say).

Probably the main difference this time around I think was that they had conservative groups involved in writing the proposition.  Believe it or not there is actually a significant number of conservatives (especially libertarian leaning conservatives) who support marriage equality (it's the minority, but it's a significant minority).  Having these groups involved helped make the case that you can be conservative and still support gay marriage (and really, conservatives are supposed to support personal freedom and small government, so the case really isn't that hard to make).  Even religious conservatives who believe homosexuality is a sin can be persuaded to support personal freedoms - my religion believes that drinking and smoking are sins, but I would never go around telling people they can't drink or smoke if they choose to (although I would beg any ladies reading this not to smoke; it's been shown to cause breasts to sag, and saggy boobs make me sad), I just don't participate in them if I think they conflict with what I believe.