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Loading ...Gay marriage foes rally in Maine
02.17.2009 11:16am EST
(Augusta, Maine) More than 1,000 people attended a rally in Augusta decrying legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Maine. Outside the Civic Center, dozens of supporters of gay marriage held a candlelight vigil.
The Sunday rally was organized by the Washington-based Christian Family Research Council, which regularly fights gay marriage issues nationally.“We’re here not motivated by anger or hate,” Tony Perkins, president of Christian Family Research Council, told the rally. “We’re here because we care. We care about families and children in Maine. And the protesters. We care about them as well. Those folks trying to redefine marriage are not our enemies.”
Last month, state Sen. Dennis S. Damon (D) announced he would introduce legislation to repeal Maine’s so-called Defense of Marriage law, which bars same-sex marriage, and a bill that would make marriage gender-neutral.
Neither bill has been filed so far.
Damon said the legislation would affirm that no religious organization would be forced to conduct a same-sex marriage. If passed, the bill would recognize same-sex marriages from other areas where they currently are legal.
The conservative Maine Marriage Alliance said it would press for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage already is legal in two New England states – Massachusetts and Connecticut. Same-sex marriage bills already have been announced in Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
Last year, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the Boston-based group that won equal marriage rights in Massachusetts and Connecticut, announced it would fight for gay marriage rights in all six New England states and predicted success by 2012.
“kristian-speak”,”love they sinner hate the sin”..my name is spelt just like that, although you were proving a point, this “kristian” does not believe in that horse poop. Rent Religilous, it pokes holes throughout all religous beliefs”, I enjoyed the heck out of it.
We have heard this many times over:
“We’re here because we care. We care about families and children in Maine.”
One thing that we need to get across to these people is that members of the GLBT community are parts of families as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles, aunts, and every other family role that straight people play in families. Legislating against us actually harms the families of which we are a part and in no way protects them! We can not let conservative religious views define us out of our families, as is so often done! Also implicit in this statement is that we in some way hurt children, presumably by recruiting them to become gay. We have to push back every time we hear this foolish statement by stating forcefully that we do not “recruit” members!
Read this article!
My mantra is still “Love the christian, hate the christianity.”.
OMFG Dave how can you be Sooooo stupidic?? The way life should be??? For F**king who?? Let me give you a “brief” lesson on how “VERY” gay friendly your HALFASSED state REALLY is, kay dear. 1) Maine was the ONLY New England state to host an official branch of the KKK. 2)The “great” State of Maine became the FIRST state in the history of the USA to REPEAL civil rights for a minority group in 1998! 3)In order to prevent minorities from successfully suing bigoted Maine corporations the state created a wonderful little bigotry protection organization called The Maine Human Rights Commission. I suppose that’s why you and your husband have moved to Massachusetts right davey, cuz the great state of Maine is just sooooooo gay friendly and is just the “Way life should be”. Go sell it to the dumbf**k tourists Dave! There are actually some out here who KNOW better. I bet you have a lot of hetero friends to who couldn’t agree with you more right? F**king idiot!
IS IT POSSIBLE TO SHAME THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR SO -CALLED RELIGION INTO SUBMISSION FOR THE AMOUNT OF $$$$$$$$$$$$ SPEND FIGHTING US? WHY ARENT THEY HELPING OUT THE POOR,THE UNEMPLOYED, THE HOMELESS AND THE HUNGRY-IT ALL TELLS US THAT THEIR WAY OF LIFE IS PHONY AND SPITEFUL.EXPOSE THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE ! GO AFTER THEM !!
My local paper (Bangor) reported only 800 people in Monday’s edition (thanks to the long weekend i got to read a paper 100 times better than the two pager I get here in Mass). I’m thinking of writing a letter to the editor as the picture showed the back of the audience…why not show the faces of bigotry? I’d like to see what HATE looks like. These people drove upwards of an hour on Sunday evening to attend this hate-rally…they are committed (or should be????).
We do know why these organizations exist: if christianity lost its “fear of god” status, the pews would empty. Gay is something to fear, one of the last, so they have to cling to demonizing us.
But I want to comment on two people: Shawn, “half assessed backward” Maine has the same 50% referendum threshold as California. This is a lingering constitutional issue that needs to be worked out in more than just Maine.
Maine is not backward, the rest of the country is too forward! Driving home yesterday from Maine to Mass my partner and I always joke about being “way” (the way life should be) and “no-way” (the way life is south of Augusta). In “way” areas, everyone..and I mean EVERYONE is in the right lane going 75 or 80 mph. If someone is going less, each person at his correct time enters the left lane, passess, and merges back in. Even as it gets congested, the left lane remains open for its SINGULAR purpose..passing. As soon as we get to southern Maine and on into NH and MA, we find the left lane hogged by jerks on cell phones in really big cars (if men we always know they are under-endowed and give them that gesture….they KNOW what we mean). But seriously, Maine is the way life should be, and not simply because people know how to drive. I could go on with many examples that have just amazed us over the years we have been working on our modest little piece of paradise in Maine.
To Morgan: yes, please come visit and bring lots of friends. Maine is VERY gay friendly. Most of the hoteliers and restauranteurs will recognize you immediately (could it be the matching luggage?) and go out of their way to make you feel welcome, knowing you likely tip better and are more interesting to be around than the couple next to you in the matching sweat suits.
Seriously, it is a great place and you don’t need a gay friendly business to feel welcome. We have been welcomed by everyone, and some of the most unsuspecting people have reached out to be friends in many cases because we are “the guys” in town (our local nickname….everyone just calls us the guys).
Come spend a week this summer, get out on the water, discover our beautiful islands and get to know the people who may seem crusty on the surface but are the most welcoming populace I’ve run across yet in this country.
If we see any of you out there this summer we’ll be sure to welcome you too!
C’mon, guys. These people aren’t hateful or angry. They’re caring people. They care so much that they will go out of their way to take away other people’s human rights. They care so much that instead on focusing on the needy and destitute like good Christians do, they’d rather spend tremendous energy to “protect” a definition that has been redefined again and again in history to reflect human progress. They care so much about families and children in Maine, they will ensure that no children will be cared for by loving, capable and dedicated same-sex couples.
So don’t be upset. Please understand. That’s how they love. That’s how they care.
Time for us to vacation and support those states like Maine where marriage equality could happen, where there is no constitutional amendment and where the enemies of progay legislation are now congregating and are a threat to the peace and calm of the place.
We need to show the people of that state that we are better and kinder that our enemies. And Tony Perkins is an enemy.
They have the freedom to puruse their religious beliefs as they see fit, however, that does not include using those religious beliefs as a means of controlling my life. Their freedom of religion does not superceded my rite to equal standing as an American citizen. They don’t seem to realize that religious people do not dictate what is valid or invalid in this country based upon their sick, antiquated dogma.
I am just so tired of the religious fascists forcing their supernatural dogma on our lives. Every day it’s more of the same from the same creeps.
At the best they are motovated my a desire to control other peoples lives or a desire to keep Marriage just for straits so they can feel morally superior!! All I want is the same rights as everyone else. Why is it that gays in long term faithful relationships have less rights than a strait couple that just met and decides to get married in Los Vagas?
They can keep Church weddings for themselves!! All I have ever wanted is just the rights to protect myself and my family.
Tom in Long Beach
As long as half assed backward Maine has a cop out referendum system in place than you can MORE than count on ANY and ALL marriage equality legislation being flushed right down the jesu freak crapper!! ayuhhhhhh!
What Bud said….ditto
Tony Perkins is a brain-dead fascist bigot. He and all the REST of his kind can osculate my superannuated queer posterior.
You can’t parse an individual and claim to love him/her ABOVE the waist, but at the same time hate him/her BELOW the waist.
That’s EXACTLY what kristian-speak, “Love the sinner, hate the sin” is proposing to do.
As Bishop Spong said, he never knew a sinner so addressed to feel anything but demeaned and degraded.
But of course that’s how they WANT us to feel … sinful and sorrowful, so we’ll crawl to their hateful god on our bellies and give 10% of our money to cock-sucking preachers on the down-low.
PI$$ on the LOT of them!
Cheers,
Bud Burgoon-Clark
San Diego CA USA
sick and tired of being a 2nd class citizen on account of these BASTARDS!