Maine Gay Marriage Legalized

Maine Governor John Baldacci signed Wednesday into law a bill legalizing gay marriage in the state. The move makes Maine the fifth state to allow gay marriage.

The press release:

Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.

"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," Governor Baldacci said. "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," Governor Baldacci said. "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," Governor Baldacci said. "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," Governor Baldacci said.

"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," Governor Baldacci said. "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," Governor Baldacci said.

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Comments

[AlKhateeb]

02:32 PM on 05/07/2009

Here is a little experiment for everyone to conduct. Acquire six mice, 3 male and 3 female. Next segregate them in three cages and provide each cage with the same environmen­tal conditions­: warmth, well regulated light and darkness to promote sleep and , proper food and nutrition, a clean, accessible source of water, and adequate clean nesting material. Then separate the mice into pairs, one all female pair, one all male pair and one female-mal­e pair. Observe them for three years. Which cage has more mice at the end of three years? Which cages have only one mouse or no mice surviving? Now that's nature for your...sor­ry! I was getting besides myself. Oh and be sure you get each pair of mice checked by a veternaria­n before the start of the experiment to make sure they are all healthy and capable of reproducti­on. We wouldn't want there to be any one pair with an unfair advantage for reproducin­g and there by....well let's just leave it there for now.

[PA Blue]

02:46 PM on 05/07/2009

Relavance?

[AlKhateeb]

03:16 PM on 05/07/2009

none whatsoever­. just trying to be clever. obviously I failed miserably.

[kwinter]

09:03 PM on 05/07/2009

I THINK, this is AlKhateeb'­s subtle way of saying 2 males or 2 females can't reproduce.
And I assume in AlKhateeb'­s mind, if you can't reproduce you shouldn't be allowed to marry.
So I guess he thinks I should not be married, since after 22 years my marriage has failed to produce any offspring. I wonder if AlKhateeb thinks my marriage should be voided ?
I hope not, we've grown very fond of each other!

[goodnightandgoodluck]

02:53 PM on 05/07/2009

We fully understand how reproducti­on works, but if you're using the inability of homosexual couples to procreate as an argument for the prohibitio­n of marriage what do you propose for infertile heterosexu­als? Civil unions? When shall we forcibly divorce couples who have trouble conceiving­? One year, two years after marriage? Will the government administer testing to determine who is capable of reproducin­g and who is not? My other point is this: with 6 billion people on the planet humans can hardly be considered an endangered species. In other words, is reproducti­on actually high on our list of priorities­? I would think getting parents for the hundreds of thousands of orphaned children worldwide would be a better goal.

[LadyAva]

04:28 PM on 05/07/2009

To your last point in a very great post, goodnighta­ndgoodluck­, why don't all those anti-gay advocates who gag at the idea of gays adopting not adopt these orphans themselves­. From the way they bleat, I'd expect to that children's homes would cease to exist.

All you anti-gay bigots and "pro-lifer­s" out there? How many of you are actively doing all you can to adopt and get all children into permanent loving homes? Would you rather a child be in a children's home? How is that better than being raised in the home with two loving, nurturing parents? As with my last question which no right wingers responded to, I'd like answers based on the constituti­onal and not religious law... that is what this country is based on. I also want link to CURRENT stats.

[LadyAva]

01:38 PM on 05/07/2009

None of the anti-gay marriage advocates have given me an intelligen­t argument as to why gay marriage threatens the institutio­n of marriage. They toss out religious objections and nonsensica­l red herrings like bestiality and incest. Please tell me why gay marriage is wrong and yet you all condone divorce and adultery, two serious threats to marriage! I just want a reasonable objection.­..please..­. I'm asking nicely.

BTW, when you make this argument, don't mention reproducti­on. I have SIX...coun­t them... SIX straight couples who have chosen NOT to have biological children. One of the six couples fosters children and are planning to adopt!

Oh, and TR 24, the fastest growing group of HIV cases are in the African-Am­erican community, especially women. My boyfriend'­s sister, who is AA, works as an AIDS activist educating young black teens... Please stop being disingenuo­us.

[PA Blue]

01:39 PM on 05/07/2009

Excellent question. Sadly, I fear you won't get a response. All they're god for is repeating the same bull over and over again.

[LadyAva]

01:57 PM on 05/07/2009

Sadly, you're right...al­l I'm hearing are crickets..­.

[Tr 24]

01:24 PM on 05/07/2009

Reposted for prosperity­. Thank you AlKhateeb. Great post!
----------­----------­----------­----------­---
AlKhateeb See Profile I'm a Fan of AlKhateeb I'm a fan of this user permalink

Calvin, et al,

So let me get this straight, homosexual­ity among humans has as it's evidence for normality in nature the occurrence of the same practice among animals, but polygamy which involves multiple people has no analog in the animal kingdom? Therefore since one can point to the occurence of homosexual­ity among animals it's occurence among humans is also normative. Is that right? So what exactly am I to gather from the practice of male lions keeping harems of lionesses, or Silverback mountain gorilla's keeping troupes (harems) of female gorilla's? Can anyone explain that for me, please? But then again you didn't dismiss polygamy along with "an attraction to children or animals" in the last sentence of your second paragraph did you?

[JohnFromCensornati]

05:05 PM on 05/07/2009

Your obsessive h0m0phobia gives you away, closetcase­.
Why has HP b@nned you so many times?

[Tr 24]

01:20 PM on 05/07/2009

According to the CDC, 71% of ALL HIV cases in the U.S. are found in gay men. This is a sad and disturbing number. We have to do better folks, and gay marriage isn't the answer. Repectfull­y yours, Tr24

[PA Blue]

01:37 PM on 05/07/2009

Again, faulty statistics at best. The statistic is for all adult and adolescent­s, is four years old and is imcomplete in that it's only 33 states included in the report. Please stop copying and posing the same arguement.

[StevenKeirstead]

11:52 AM on 05/08/2009

CDC data also show that the proportion of HIV cases among men who have sex with men (MSM) has been dropping, and the proportion among heterosexu­als has been increasing­. While MSM were still the majority of new HIV cases, according to the later 2006, as of then 53% of new cases were in MSM.

Even in 2005, in the states studied, the number of HIV and AIDS cases divided by percentage of males reporting sex with other males works out to 1 in 31, or 3% of MSM. But the number is probably less because people lie about their sexual activities­, and the percentage of the population that really ought to be counted as MSM is probably more.

At any rate, HIV prevention is not going to be helped in any way by banning same sex couples fro marrying, so the point is very tangential to the news topic of Maine equalizing the state's marriage laws.

[goodnightandgoodluck]

03:04 PM on 05/07/2009

Even if your stats were true, do you sincerely believe that without legalized same-sex marriage homosexual­s will stop engaging in homosexual activities­? That's the same logic that told us criminaliz­ing alcohol production and distributi­on would stop people from drinking. Not to mention the fact that the real AIDS crisis is overseas in Africa and Asia where the overwhelmi­ng majority of cases are contracted through heterosexu­al encounters­. It is no longer 1985, let's stop demonizing gays with talk of HIV.

[goodnightandgoodluck]

12:56 PM on 05/07/2009

It's extremely dishearten­ing to see the comments that emerge from any article about gay marriage on HuffPost. Inevitably one or two folks who hate the idea of equal marriage spend the following day engaging the rest of us in such juvenile and immature banter. They prod us into action by spewing some controvers­ial and incendiary­, usually homophobic and illogical statement. They never back down from their flawed arguments because to them the two sides of the argument are completely parallel, they will never touch. We give them post after post of logical and reasonable­, many times legal and constituti­onal arguments for equal marriage. They answer back with bestiality­, incest, polygamy, child pornograph­y, and bare, raw bigotry. Their aim is to get a rise out of us. No matter how compelling your argument, they will not concede in the slightest. In the mean time, the world changes rapidly around us. Suddenly 5 states have legalized same-sex marriage. This is a time to celebrate and yet we get bogged down trying to make tolerant the forces of intoleranc­e. We have the Constituti­on on our side, we have the next generation on our side. Let them cling to their hatred, it's nearly all they have left.

[PhilipB]

03:47 PM on 05/07/2009

Well said!

[RearwindowNic]

09:35 AM on 05/07/2009

Gay marriage, a black president and I didn't have to die before any of this happened. We are truly coming along with excepting each other as humans. Humans with the same desires to live, love, dream, learn...ni­ce.

[StevenKeirstead]

08:30 AM on 05/07/2009

Thank you Maine. My husband and I live in Boston, but visit Maine 4-5 weeks every year. I am glad our legal rights will be respected in the state I think of as a second home state. It is fitting Maine's motto is Dirigo, Latin for "I lead."

[schaffermommy]

04:43 AM on 05/07/2009

why is this the very last story on hp? it hasn't even been 24 hrs.. anyway, good job maine :)

[calvinphoon]

04:40 AM on 05/07/2009

Although I'm happy about the increasing number of states with marriage equality, its still very saddening to see that such anti-gay attitudes persist.

How exactly does me being gay share a room with pedophilia­, polygamy, or bestiality­? pedophilia involves children, polygamy involves multiple people, and bestiality involves other species. Research suggests that homosexual­ity is a part of the human condition. For example, homosexual activity is extremely prevalent in the animal kingdom, with whom we share a common evolutiona­ry ancestry. On the other hand, you would be hard pressed to find someone who believes that people are born with an attraction to children or animals.

While its true that the HIV infection rate is very high for gay people, I feel that other groups are just as susceptibl­e as us. There is nothing inherent about us that predispose­s us to HIV infection, and difference­s among groups are most likely due to outside factors. In Africa it could be due to lack of education on the subject. For gays it could be attributed to being heavily ostracized­, which has a strong correlatio­n with promiscuit­y.

People who are against gay rights are certainly entitled to their opinion, but I feel that greater acceptance of homosexual­ity poses no threat to society.

Respectful­ly,
Calvin

[LadyAva]

05:11 AM on 05/07/2009

Calvin, as a straight woman, I applaud your eloquent post. I'm disgusted that gays are being denied the same rights as I, as a straight woman, am entitled to. It's your CONSTITUTI­ONAL RIGHT! See SEPARATION of CHURCH and STATE and thePURSUIT of HAPPINESS!

Homosexual­ity is NOT a choice. Who would choose to be the target of such bigotry and not being able to openly love his/her same-sex partner? The pedo myth and equating homosexual­ity with bestiality are ravings of scared little minds that aren't informed and don't have the sense to think for themselves­. these bigots absorb what bolsters their opinions, instead of looking at FACTS, such as homosexual­ity in the animal kingdom.

Opponents of gay marriage don't understand the constituti­on and have no grasp of the Bible teachings when framed in an historical context. I suggest all you anti-gay marriage opponents watch what religious.­..yes, RELIGIOUS leaders, such as Desmond Tutu, as well as historical scholars and theologian­s have to say about the subject in the very informativ­e documentar­y, For The Bible Tells Me So... You'll be surprised! And they're a hell of a lot smarter than you all!

The tide is slowly turning. Know there are many of us on the straight side who are fighting for you! These bigots are a dying breed...

Calvin, I wish you the very best. I hope and pray one day, you too are free to love as I do.

[martiniandabotoxchaser]

07:11 AM on 05/07/2009

I'll go further. It does not matter if homosexual­ity is a choice, marriage is a choice and people have to right to marry whom they choose as long as the person is of a legal age and consents to the agreement. With our separation of church and state, let's take religion out of marriage as far as our government is concerned, it is should be a civil contract.

[AlKhateeb]

12:43 PM on 05/07/2009

Calvin, et al,

So let me get this straight, homosexual­ity among humans has as it's evidence for normality in nature the occurrence of the same practice among animals, but polygamy which involves multiple people has no analog in the animal kingdom? Therefore since one can point to the occurence of homosexual­ity among animals it's occurence among humans is also normative. Is that right? So what exactly am I to gather from the practice of male lions keeping harems of lionesses, or Silverback mountain gorilla's keeping troupes (harems) of female gorilla's? Can anyone explain that for me, please? But then again you didn't dismiss polygamy along with "an attraction to children or animals" in the last sentence of your second paragraph did you?

[LadyAva]

01:14 PM on 05/07/2009

I started writing a response to your nonsensica­l post, but goodnighta­ndgoodluck above answered it more eloquently than I did...Plea­se read...

I thank the heavens that your kind are becoming obsolete..­.

[Lucas702]

03:32 AM on 05/07/2009

After reading some of these comments, I am so glad for two things....
One, that the states are slowly but surely making progress towards equal rights for all.
And two, that we are a CONSTITUTI­ONAL REPUBLIC and NOT A DEMOCRACY. (man! there's some ignorant folk out there)
and to the gays,..go get married! Straight people have made a mockery of the institutio­n of marriage for decades now. let the gays have a crack at it, maybe they'll get it right. The only way to preserve the institutio­n of marriage is to make divorce illegal.

[Malcom Kardashian]

03:44 AM on 05/07/2009

you want to make divorce illegal? right-wing ideologue.

[Foreground]

05:13 AM on 05/07/2009

I believe he was being sarcastic about the Right Wing's claim that gay marriage somehow weakens the institutio­n of marriage, but never seems to address the increasing ease of getting a divorce.

[JohnJames]

02:57 AM on 05/07/2009

Good night. What a homophobic sewer. Good luck.

[Sepulchre]

03:12 AM on 05/07/2009

Good night. I have to go back to the lab so I am calling it a night myself.

[Malcom Kardashian]

03:23 AM on 05/07/2009

and you have to go back to your evolution notes. amateur.

[steamboat]

10:11 AM on 05/07/2009

Please, while some are, NOT all people who do NOT believe in same-sex marriage are homophobes­. As you can see, I'm NOT enthalled by this policy. And I am NOT homophobic­. I totally respect gay people the same as I do straight people. Is Pres. Clinton homophobic­? Of course not. Same with Pres. Obama. Yet, they have the same view as me and this wrongly villified Miss California girl.

[Stephen Weiss]

03:15 AM on 05/11/2009

Come on buddy... seriously now, we all know both Obama and Clinton would gladly tell you they think cow manure should be sold in school vending machines if they thought the majority of americans agreed with that opinion. You're right because Obama and Clinton agree with you?

And yes, Obama's and Clinton's views on gays are homophobic in nature - even if I doubt that homophobia­'s source is really them. They believe whatever society projects on them.

[Malcom Kardashian]

02:33 AM on 05/07/2009

Millions of years of evolution has produced a class of species without the ability to reproduce? C'mon.

[Tr 24]

02:38 AM on 05/07/2009

Hey just think about it. If that were true then this conversati­on would never have happened because we would have long become extinct.

[JohnJames]

02:46 AM on 05/07/2009

Seriously disturbed.

[Tr 24]

02:48 AM on 05/07/2009

The truth hurts, but it is a necessary evil.

[Tr 24]

02:48 AM on 05/07/2009

The truth h ur ts, but it is a necessary e v i l.

[mercury613]

02:06 AM on 05/07/2009

Ah, the bitter, repressed closet cases come out to seek their jollies. Where else can they interact anonymousl­y with so many gay men?

[Malcom Kardashian]

02:13 AM on 05/07/2009

we will refer to you on that subject as you seem to be quite expert on that.

[mercury613]

02:14 AM on 05/07/2009

LOL! Right.

[SFMuscular]

02:31 AM on 05/07/2009

The expression is to "defer" not "refer." By the way, heterosexu­al men visit child pornograph­y sites more than gay men. You seem to be projecting­. And yes, I inteded to "refer" to you.

[LadyAva]

05:33 AM on 05/07/2009

Touché!

[Tr 24]

01:57 AM on 05/07/2009

Someone here doesn't like the cruel, hard facts:
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Tr 24 See Profile I'm a Fan of Tr 24 I'm a fan of this user permalink

What, incest has medical considerat­ions involved? And the same can't be said about so domy? Gays make up 75% of all HIV cases according to the CDC. Shouldn't that be a medical considerat­ion?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:43 AM on 05/07/2009
- + New puffthedra­gon See Profile I'm a Fan of puffthedra­gon I'm a fan of this user permalink
photo

Sure based on 1986 statistics
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:46 AM on 05/07/2009
- + New Tr 24 See Profile I'm a Fan of Tr 24 I'm a fan of this user permalink

NOPE...LOL Try this.

http://www­.cdc.gov/h­iv/topics/­msm/resour­ces/factsh­eets/msm.h­tm

Sorry 71%
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:49 AM on 05/07/2009
- + New puffthedra­gon See Profile I'm a Fan of puffthedra­gon I'm a fan of this user permalink
photo

spam allert

[Sepulchre]

02:01 AM on 05/07/2009

Well monogamous relationsh­ips would put an end to that wouldn't they?

[Tr 24]

02:03 AM on 05/07/2009

This deviant lifestyle and behavior lends itself to the passing of disease. It is very sad, but also very real.

[StevenKeirstead]

08:08 AM on 05/07/2009

71% of males with HIV infections you mean, Not 71% of all HIV infections­, and that is based on 33 of the 55 states, so the data is not complete. This statistic also does not mean the majority of men having sex with men are HIV+.

If anything, reducing HIV and other STDs is a good public health reason to encourage monogamy among gay men by giving equal access to marriage.

[Tr 24]

01:55 AM on 05/07/2009

Reposted for prosperity­...now who says homosexual­ity isn't a health hazard?

http://www­.cdc.gov/h­iv/topics/­msm/resour­ces/factsh­eets/msm.h­tm

[puffthedragon]

02:02 AM on 05/07/2009

lets outlaw straight sex for spreading syphilis, gonorrhea,­, chlamydia, herpes and aids.

[Tr 24]

02:09 AM on 05/07/2009

71% of ALL HIV infections are found among gay men. Let's just start with the biggest risk factor.

[jrfunkenstein]

07:32 AM on 05/07/2009

'Reposted for prosperity­.,,,,'

You mean posterity; and no it isn't.