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Yes on 1 Stand for Marriage is the group looking to repeal Maine's gay marriage law - Source: Reuters -
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Voters in Maine overturned a law allowing same-sex couples to
wed, dealing a fresh setback to the US gay marriage movement in a
race that attracted national attention.
The law was approved by Maine's Legislature in May but was not
implemented after opponents gathered enough signatures to put the
issue to a people's veto.
With 87% of precincts reporting, votes to reject the law were
running at 52.75% to 47.25 %, according to unofficial tallies from
the Bangor Daily News.
Frank Schubert, chief organizer of the Yes on 1 campaign to reject
same-sex marriage in the state, claimed victory early, although his
opponents refused to concede.
Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont are the
only US states where a same-sex marriage law is on the books.
In each instance, the laws were approved by legislatures and
judges, not by popular vote.
Citizens in some 30 states before Maine voted against same-sex
marriages.
The referendum in sparsely populated Maine was thrust onto the
national stage, attracting large levels of funding and
battle-hardened strategists.
The outcome is "further evidence that although voters have shown
tolerance toward same sex couples, they draw the line at marriage,"
said Jeff Flint, a partner with Schubert Flint Public Affairs in
Sacramento, who worked on California's Yes on 8 campaign in
2008.
"They feel marriage is different."
Groups in favour of traditional marriage prevailed in Maine even
though they were outspent two-to-one by the No on 1 groups, Flint
said.
The push to repeal got powerful help from Portland's Catholic
Bishop Richard Malone, who spoke out repeatedly against the
legalization of same-sex marriage.
About 37% of Maine's population is Roman Catholic.
State of the unions
Several US states have statutes sanctioning various kinds of civil
unions for same-sex couples.
But those do not carry many of the same legal protections as actual
marriages, such as the ability to share healthcare benefits with a
partner, or inheritance rights.
"There were real inequalities in terms of Maine's statutes. Civil
unions did not equal civil marriages," Maine Governor John
Baldacci, a Democrat, said on local television of his decision to
support the gay marriage law.
Maine's initiative was closely followed after California's bitter
same-sex marriage fight in 2008.
Proposition 8 upended a state Supreme Court ruling that same-sex
couples have a constitutional right to marry.
Some of the best known national gay and lesbian rights groups would
like to wait and watch before attempting to turn back Proposition
8.
But John Henning, executive director of the group Love Honor
Cherish in Los Angeles said Maine's vote was likely to catalyze
grass-roots action in several states.
"It will light a fire under activists and be a reminder that we all
had our right to marry taken away in California," he said.
