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Loading ...Neff: Meet-up in Maine
How’s your vacation time for 2009?
Did the summer get away from you and you’re left with 40 hours and you’d rather do anything besides try to schedule that family visit in December?
Well, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has taken on the role of travel agent and is lining up GLBT folks from across the country for an October holiday.No, it isn’t a cruise in the Caribbean with 250 of your favorite lesbian comics.
No, it isn’t a weekend white party with 1,000 of your favorite club boys.
And no, it isn’t a black-and-blue festival for leatherfolk.
This is a New England holiday, a meet-up in Maine, where, next month, Mainers and their out-of-state allies will be courting votes to defend marriage rights against a wrong-wing attack.
In May, through the legislative process not the courts, Maine became the fifth state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage.
But GLBT civil rights advocates were not surprised that anti-gay organizations launched a petition drive urging a “people’s veto” of the new law.
The ballot measure was certified earlier this month and in the November referendum election voters will decide Question 1 on the ballot, which will read, “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?”
There is a dispute over whether some questionable fundraising tactics might have put the measure on the ballot, but state officials may not be able to resolve the dispute before the Nov. 3 election.
So supporters of marriage equality are rallying a No on 1 campaign and the NGLTF, partnering in the effort, is seeking volunteer vacationers or vacationing volunteers to connect with fair-minded people and prevent a repeat of the California Proposition 8 vote.
“We need volunteers who can commit to spending at least a week in Maine in October to be part of an unprecedented get-out-the-vote operation,” reads the action alert from the NGLTF. “We have several shifts to choose from, each lasting one week. If you can, feel free to take more than one shift.”
This would not be an all-expense-paid vacation of course. Volunteer vacationers need to get to Portland — “nestled between Maine’s forest-covered mountains and spectacular rugged coast, a rough-hewn gem of New England” — and back home, unless the Pine Tree State proves to captivating to leave.
Volunteer vacationers also need to cover incidentals, including food — but oh, what food you’ll find on that working holiday in Maine. Lobster. Steelhead trout. Cod. Chowder. Mustard pickles. Wild berries. Buckwheat pancakes. Maple butter. Moxie.
No on 1/NGLTF organizers are lining up housing and readying crash courses to teach volunteer vacationers strategies for courting the vote.
And, for those who want to mix play with work, I can promise Maine is a superb vacation destination, especially in the fall, when the leaves burst with color and the temperatures mellow.
Time your travel just right and you might catch Portland’s Harvest on the Harbor, the state’s largest food and wine celebration.
Time your travel to book-end the campaign work with some sightseeing and you might get to see the world’s only full-size chocolate moose (in Scarborough), hike a stretch of the Appalachian Trail, shop at L.L. Bean, sip a Sebago Lake Trout Stout, take a “Wicked Walking Tour” of haunted Portland, shout “Thar she blows” on a whale cruise and get lost looking for the Bush compound in Kennebunkport.
If you take that Maine volunteer vacation, send 365gay.com a postcard.
And, for those who can’t trek to Maine, join the stay-cation volunteer campaign. Pledge support or donate to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality.
Great to hilite this creative approach by no on 1, Lisa.
I hope people take them up on the offer. Maine is an amazing place and October is by far the BEST month of the year to go there. My husband and I just returned from a week in Maine and as always had amazing weather, great sunrises and moon rises and wonderful outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking.
I just want to point one thing out: you mention a lot to do in Southern Maine. Portland is a very nice city, nothing against it, lots to do…but it is not the REAL MAINE as locals always point out.
To really experience Maine head downeast. Most people start at Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island where Bar Harbor is located. Not yet as much the t-shirt and beer belly crowd we sadly see at Ogunquit, Bar Harbor is still quite crowded and Touristy.
Here are some places to go in Downeast Maine (and please go and spend some money there, Wahsington county is one of the poorest counties in the country!):
-Hike the “Bold Coast Trail” with some of the most amazing ocean views off high cliffs in the country. We saw dolphins, whales, seals and all kinds of sea birds and raptors.
-Visit the schoodic peninsula, the “quiet side” of Acadia park. Across Frenchman’s bay from Mt. Desert the scenery is no less beautiful but the crowds are absent.
-Hike Petit Manan reserve. A many thousands acre peninsula with only a few private homes. miles and miles of undisturbed bold rocky coast.
-Book a tour to Machias Seal Island to see the quirky penguin-like Puffins, an artic bird that lives off shore and can only be seen up close through one captain that has a license to bring visitors ashore (descendent of Capt. Norton, out of Jonesport).
-While in Jonesport witness a true fishing village. Some of the clearest/blue-green water on the coast..gorgeous harbor with ten mile long sunsets across Mooseabec Reach. Hire one of the many lobsterman willing to take tourists out for the day. The bays are studded with hundreds of islands and you will be amazed at the wildlife.
-Visit West Quoddy Light, the eastern most point in the country. Beautiful easily accesible cliff trail and light house..again, whales/seals etc just off shore.
-Jasper beach, south of Machias is a natural phenomenon that you will think was man made. Mile wide crescent beach, about 20 foot high dune made of small polished rocks (many of them are Jasper). It looks like they were put there by bulldozers, not waves.
-Hike Great Wass preserve. A famous island jutting far to see into the shipping lanes. 5 hour hike round trip, two of which are pink granite boulder scrambling along the shore.
I could go on….if you think crowded touristy trinket shops are for you go to boothbay or any of the many harbors and towns in Southern Maine.
Downeast starts in Ellsworth or the Blue Hill Peninsula…you won’t be sorry you made the 4 hour drive East of Portland!
I dug deep into my pockets to help Maine and California and will soon do that that to help Iowa stand up to those antigay conservatives like Vander Plaats who want to be governor of Iowa. In Vander Plaats’ case, he wants put a screeching halt to Iowa marriage equality on his first day as Iowa governor if elected.
Thank you, Lisa !!! Maine and Washington state are huge. This is about more than marriage and more than two states. It’s about standing behind the courageous legislators (and governor) who did the right thing by us. It’s about devoting the effort and money necessary to counter a massive campaign of deception financed by national anti-lgbt groups and the full might of the Catholic Church. It’s about winning one at the ballot box and forever changing the narrative about lgbt equality and dignity. The side that wins in Maine and Washington state will have the moment in all the big battles coming up at the federal level. ps – Can 365 Gay put a permanent contribution box for Maine and/or Washington state in the sidebar? [Bilerico has one via ActBlue - but a live link to the local campaigns would do the job, too.]
The Maine No on 1 Campaign: http://www.protectmaineequality.org/index.cfm
Thanks for helping to spread the word. Here in California, we have a lot of people angry about what happened with Prop 8 – and determined to avoid the same mistakes that happened all over again. We are working with a group that last year successfully sent hundreds of Northern California Obama supporters out to the swing states — by having people donate money and/or airline miles.
Now, anyone can do it at: http://www.travelforchange.org
Read more about it at: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7327
As the LGBT community fights to retain marriage equality in Maine, it is imperative to be sure we have ALL our allies on side. This must include progressive religious/Christian voices who support and defend our community and who also want to have their right to marry same-sex couples protected.