I’m disappointed but not really surprised that the voters in Maine rejected the same-sex marriage legislation that squeaked through their legislature earlier this year.
The political divide in Maine generally boils down to Portland vs. The Rest Of The State. The population of the Portland metropolitan area is 230,000, which is more than 20% of the population of the entire state. With a large contingent of “Getaways” from other Northeastern cities, college-age young adults, and people with higher levels of education, Portland is like a border outpost for Boston, while the rest of the state makes the cast of Hee Haw look like Oxford-educated gentlemen and ladies. The ME-1 Congressional district almost always has a True Blue Democrat in the seat, and Obama handily won the state last year. Portland et environs is also the locus of the gay community (as it is for every other minority community that exists in Maine).
A lot of outside national political groups were involved in this referendum; I got a lot of e-mail from the assorted liberal groups about it. I donated some money to the effort, but I drew the line at the request to actually GO to Maine to pump up headcount at rallies — helping to keep the campaign afloat is one thing, but I don’t think it’s Kosher to pretend to be a local for the sake of any political campaign. At the end of the day, though, I think what pushwd the final number was the effort from the Catholic Church, which holds a lot of political sway in Maine. Without the Catholics, the “Yes” group would have just been the usual collection of hate-mongers and fundie freaks, but the church lent legitimacy as well as tangible support.
Once again, for my money, that really underscores the bigger idea that there ought to be a much clearer division between church and state when it comes to marriage. If the Catholics (or any other religious group) don’t approve of same-sex marriage, then let them keep it out of their own church and stop interfering with the rights of people who don’t belong to their church. Marriage as a religious rite can indeed be restricted to whatever prescriptions any particular religious organization wished to impose on its membership. Marriage as a civil institution should be equally available to all without discrimination.
At this point in time, after four and a half years of legal same-sex marriage here in Massachusetts, it’s pretty clear that every single argument against same-sex marriage is bullshit used to cover up basic bigotry and homophobia — the “foundation of society” hasn’t been harmed in any way, people aren’t marrying dogs, and so on. It’s also clear that general public opinion continues to move away from moralistic bigotry but that opposition from the Catholic Church, or, as was the case with Prop 8 in California last year, the Mormon Church, still carries enough weight to work against this basic issue of equal rights for all. It’s a shame that groups which lay claim to “compassion” and “tolerance” still champion the very opposite.
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