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Same-sex marriages begin in Maine

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Same-sex couples were married legally in Maine beginning at midnight, last night. Many communities offered special hours to accommodate the festivities. Maine’s largest city, Portland, opened at midnight to provide licenses as soon as the law went into effect. So did a neighboring town, Falmouth. Others including Bangor, Brunswick and Augusta will open with special hours to issue licenses.

Voter approved same-sex marriage laws are already in effect in Washington state and Maryland’s takes effect on January 1.

[via AP]

Washington is ready to embrace same-sex marriages

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Washington is one of three US states where marriage rights were extended to same-sex couples by popular vote. And it’s the first of those states to put its law into effect – on December 6. Same-sex couples can marry in Maine beginning December 29 and in Maryland on January 1.

Under Washington state law, all would-be brides and grooms must submit their marriage certificates at least three days in advance. So the first wave of same-sex Washington weddings – expected to number in the hundreds – is scheduled for Sunday, December 9.

Maine, Maryland voters approve marriage equality

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Maine and Maryland made history, becoming the first states in which voters legalized same-sex marriage. A bill allowing same-sex marriages in Maine passed in 2009, but opponents petitioned for a referendum on the issue and that year 53% of voters opposed it. In Maryland a referendum had sought to overturn a law approving same-sex marriage passed earlier this year by the Legislature.

Marriage equality is also legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

[via wltx.com]

Bill to add benefits for same-sex partners gains support in Senate

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A Senate bill that would extend health care, retirement and other benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees and retirees gained traction last week when 20 senators signed on as co-sponsors. The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins (pic), R-Maine, gained the support of 19 Democrats and one Independent. Collins remains the bill’s only Republican supporter in the Senate. “This change is both fair policy and good business practice,” Collins said in a statement announcing the bill’s new supporters. “The federal government must compete with the private sector when it comes to attracting the most qualified, skilled and dedicated employees. Indeed, private-sector employers are increasingly offering these kinds of benefits as standard fare.”

[via FederalTimes.com]

Maine joins “It Gets Better” in a big way

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Portland’s Rines Auditorium was the place for an event that included a dozen community organizations and three high school gay-straight alliances – all dedicated to reducing hate language and harassment.

In a locally related story, the national site It Gets Better Project now has a substantial archive of videos from GLBT supporters in Maine. When Portland Phoenix reporter Deirdre Fulton searched It Gets Better, she found almost nobody from Maine. So she filmed and uploaded stories from more than a dozen Mainers, then quickly doubled that number. Portland City Councilor Jill Duson and state Rep. Terry Morrison of South Portland joined such national figures as President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contributing to the project.

Syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage started It Gets Better by creating an online video with his partner, hoping to inspire young people who face harassment. Within two months of its launch, the site itgetsbetter.org included more than 5,000 user-created videos and drew 15 million viewers.

Loss in Maine will not slow the fight for marriage equality

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Maine voted 53 to 47 to reject gay marriage. The closely watched — and not very close — vote extended the winning streak of gay-marriage opponents nationwide, who have now prevailed in more than 30 straight state elections over whether to allow marriage equality.

Still, the issue will not go away.

TIME magazine reports:

“But Maine’s vote, much like all of the states before it, including California’s vote on Prop 8 a year ago, will do little to slow the fight over gay marriage. Not in Maine, where Tuesday’s vote was only the equivalent of a veto and can be easily reversed by lawmakers when they next meet, and not in the rest of country, where the issue continues to roil courthouses and statehouses alike.

‘Ultimately, this is going to have to have a national resolution,’ says same-sex-marriage activist Mary Bonauto, one of the nation’s top lawyers involved in the campaign to legalize gay marriage. ‘It’s about aligning promises found in the Constitution with America’s laws.’

“A leader in Maine’s campaign to uphold gay marriage, Bonauto is best known for arguing the same-sex case that led the Massachusetts Supreme Court to strike down prohibitions against gay marriage in a hugely influential 2003 decision that paved the way for that state to become the first to permit gay marriage in 2004.”

Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council released a statement:

“In the long march to full equality, today we pause to grieve with and for the families and children who have temporarily lost the promise of equality under Maine law. Our freedoms have been stripped away, but we must and will win them back. When the rawness of our pain and grief lessens, LGBT families will do what they do so naturally — stand together and tell our stories. Connecting with other families has always been the key to educating, dreaming and inspiring hope which will lead to the changing of enough hearts and minds to win our freedom. Our visibility as LGBT families is strong and providing positive results nationwide. The fight will continue and we will again make marriage a reality for our families in Maine.”

5/6/2009
Maine governor signs marriage equality bill

The Bangor Daily News reports Gov. John Baldacci signed a marriage equality bill – which was passed only a few hours before by the Maine Legislature.

“Baldacci made his announcement within an hour of the Maine Senate giving its final approval to LD 1020. The Senate voted 21-13 in favor of the measure after a short debate. The House of Representatives gave its approval on a 89-57 vote Tuesday. The proposal would make Maine the fifth state to allow gay marriage. Four states now allow same-sex marriages. Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa have been ordered by the courts to do so, and Connecticut later enacted a law codifying the court ruling. Vermont in April passed a gay marriage law over the governor’s objection.”

Baldacci, who has opposed same-sex marriage in the past, said in a statement:

“I have followed closely the debate on this issue. I have listened to both sides, as they have presented their arguments during the public hearing and on the floor of the Maine Senate and the House of Representatives. I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully. I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste. I appreciate the tone brought to this debate by both sides of the issue. This is an emotional issue that touches deeply many of our most important ideals and traditions. There are good, earnest and honest people on both sides of the question.

“In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions. I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage. Article I in the Maine Constitution states that ‘no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person’s civil rights or be discriminated against.’ This new law does not force any religion to recognize a marriage that falls outside of its beliefs. It does not require the church to perform any ceremony with which it disagrees. Instead, it reaffirms the separation of Church and State. It guarantees that Maine citizens will be treated equally under Maine’s civil marriage laws, and that is the responsibility of government. Even as I sign this important legislation into law, I recognize that this may not be the final word. Just as the Maine Constitution demands that all people are treated equally under the law, it also guarantees that the ultimate political power in the State belongs to the people. While the good and just people of Maine may determine this issue, my responsibility is to uphold the Constitution and do, as best as possible, what is right. I believe that signing this legislation is the right thing to do.”

Three states to consider reversing gay rights

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The AP reports that voters in three states will decide this fall on whether to reverse gay rights initiatives ranging from anti-discrimination measures to marriage benefits.

In Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the state’s legalization of same-sex marriage. In Washington state, a so-called “everything but marriage” law that expands the state’s current domestic partnership law will be on the ballot. And in Kalamazoo, Mich., voters will decide on an ordinance that prohibits discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.

Washington state, along with California, Oregon, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia, have laws that either recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships that afford same-sex couples similar rights to marriage.

While Maine and Washington state will get most of the focus in November’s election, a gay rights ordinance in the southwestern Michigan city of Kalamazoo is getting national attention from groups on both sides as well.

The city’s ordinance, which outlaws employment, housing and public-accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification, took effect July 9 but was suspended once opponents turned in enough signed petitions to force a public vote.

Marriage equality advertising war begins in Maine

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Church Executive magazine reports on the battle over marriage equality in Maine.

“Supporters of an effort to overturn Maine’s ‘gay marriage’ law launched their first television ad Tuesday and in it warned that if the law isn’t reversed, church organizations could lose their tax-exempt status and ‘gay marriage’ could be taught in public schools.

“The ads from both sides of the campaign are being monitored closely and could very well determine who wins in November. Last year in California, TV ads – particularly ones that highlighted the issue of public schools – were credited with helping the pro-Prop 8 side erase a 17-point polling deficit in only six weeks and win 52-48 percent on Election Day. There has been no recent public polling in Maine.

“The first advertisement by Stand for Marriage Maine began airing 12 days after Protect Maine Equality – the group trying to keep ‘gay marriage’ legal – started airing its first ads.”

Maine allows joint adoption. Couple makes history and adopts their foster children.

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Two Portland women who have fought for the past six years to adopt two siblings, now aged 10 and 6. And now the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in the lesbian family’s favor.

Supreme court justices unanimously struck down a previous ruling by the Cumberland County Probate Court, which did not allow Ann Courtney and Marilyn Kirby to jointly adopt the children.

The case was argued by attorneys at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

“We’re ecstatic,” Ann Courtney said in a written statement. “We love these kids, and their well-being means everything to us. Our daughter and son can now know that we are a family, and we’ll always be a family.”

“Today’s ruling marks the first time in Maine history that a same-sex couple can jointly adopt a child,” Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine, said in a written statement. “Until now, only a married couple or an unmarried person has been able to petition to adopt a child. This ruling is very welcome news to those of us raising children with whom we are unable to establish legal relationships.”

The women became foster parents after the kids, then 4 years and 4 months old, were removed from the care of their biological parents. The children have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, reactive attachment disorder, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.