Going After the “Movable Middle” on the Freedom to Marry
Posted on Mar 01, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Third Way, a Washington DC based think tank, conducted a poll of 600 Maine voters right after Question One passed in November and identified some important trends among the movable middle swing voters.
Maine Ethics Commission Votes 4-1 to Deny NOM’s Petition For Investigation Stay
Posted on Jan 30, 2010 at 04:03 pm
Pam's House Blend January 29, 2010
The State of Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices will continue their investigation into whether or not the National Organization for Marriage violated Maine law with their campaign against marriage equality in the state. The commission on Thursday denied NOM's petition objecting to the release of the organization's documents. [Link]
Voice for Equality: Peter Mills
Posted on Jan 28, 2010 at 10:00 am
Peter Mills is an American politician - a Republican from Maine. Mills currently serves in the Maine Senate, representing the 26th district. He ran for Governor of Maine in 2006, ultimately losing by 2,400 votes in the primary to Chandler Woodcock. Mills has announced he will run again for Governor in 2010. Learn more here.In 2009, Mills was the only Republican in the Maine Senate to vote for the Freedom to Marry bill and in this interview he expanded on his reasoning, and predicted what he thought would happen at the ballot box in November:
[Link]
Freedom to Marry salutes Maine state Senator Peter Mills as another Republican Voice for Equality! Learn about other Voices for Equality here.
If Senator Mills' support inspires you, get involved!
**Make your NOMINATION for a Voice for Equality today!
Op-Ed: The moral and constitutional case for a right to marry
Posted on Jan 07, 2010 at 11:46 am
Daily News (NY)
January 7, 2010
Cato Institute Chairman Robert A. Levy calls marriage equality a constitutional issue, because "[T]he primary purpose of government is to safeguard individual rights and prevent some persons from harming others [...] and no one is harmed by the union of two consenting gay people." [Link]
January 7, 2010
Cato Institute Chairman Robert A. Levy calls marriage equality a constitutional issue, because "[T]he primary purpose of government is to safeguard individual rights and prevent some persons from harming others [...] and no one is harmed by the union of two consenting gay people." [Link]
Maine marriage supporters plan to make it 2010 election issue
Posted on Dec 21, 2009 at 11:42 am
Seacoast Online
December 21, 2009
Maine marriage equality advocates have regrouped following repeal of the marriage law at the ballot Nov. 3, and they are working to put like-minded legislators in office in 2010. They also are planning to take a more personal approach with voters than they did in the months leading up to November — an approach that focuses less on identifying likely voters than it does on having conversations with people in the more rural, small-town pockets of Maine. (Link)
December 21, 2009
Maine marriage equality advocates have regrouped following repeal of the marriage law at the ballot Nov. 3, and they are working to put like-minded legislators in office in 2010. They also are planning to take a more personal approach with voters than they did in the months leading up to November — an approach that focuses less on identifying likely voters than it does on having conversations with people in the more rural, small-town pockets of Maine. (Link)
California Companies Fight Marriage Equality Nationwide
Posted on Dec 14, 2009 at 11:56 am
The New York Times
December 12, 2009
Anti-gay activists nationwide are turning to California companies to head their campaigns against marriage equality in different states. Sacramento-based Schubert Flint Public Affairs was hired as the consultant for the anti-gay campaigns supporting Calif.'s Prop. 8 and Maine's Question 1. [Link]
December 12, 2009
Anti-gay activists nationwide are turning to California companies to head their campaigns against marriage equality in different states. Sacramento-based Schubert Flint Public Affairs was hired as the consultant for the anti-gay campaigns supporting Calif.'s Prop. 8 and Maine's Question 1. [Link]
OP-ED: I Do… Want Benefits, Too
Posted on Dec 07, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Boston Globe Sunday Magazine
December 7, 2009
Alison Lobron writes that the fight for marriage equality has exposed the fact that single people are unequal to married couples when it comes to obtaining benefits. [Link]
December 7, 2009
Alison Lobron writes that the fight for marriage equality has exposed the fact that single people are unequal to married couples when it comes to obtaining benefits. [Link]
Maine Revisited: Is There a Backlash Against Marriage Equality?
Posted on Dec 05, 2009 at 12:58 pm
FiveThirtyEight
December 4, 2009
In light of the New York State Senate's decision on Wednesday to vote down the freedom to marry, Nate Silver rexamines what happened last month in Maine, where voters passed Question 1 -- reversing the state legislature's decision to embrace marriage equality -- by roughly a 5-point margin. [Link]
December 4, 2009
In light of the New York State Senate's decision on Wednesday to vote down the freedom to marry, Nate Silver rexamines what happened last month in Maine, where voters passed Question 1 -- reversing the state legislature's decision to embrace marriage equality -- by roughly a 5-point margin. [Link]
Bangor High School Student Holds Marriage Equality Rally
Posted on Nov 23, 2009 at 11:02 am
Bangor Daily News
November 23, 2009
Antonia Carroll, a 16-year-old Bangor High School student, on Sunday organized a rally of more than 60 people, including other high school students, who volunteered for the NO on 1 campaign. Carroll: “We will not stop, and we will not give up until we have equality for all." [Link]
November 23, 2009
Antonia Carroll, a 16-year-old Bangor High School student, on Sunday organized a rally of more than 60 people, including other high school students, who volunteered for the NO on 1 campaign. Carroll: “We will not stop, and we will not give up until we have equality for all." [Link]
Evan Wolfson Speech to National Employment Lawyers Association of New York
Posted on Nov 20, 2009 at 02:49 pm
Freedom to Marry
November 20, 2009
Excerpts from Evan Wolfson's speech while being honored by the National Employment Lawyers Association of New York on November 19, 2009:
November 20, 2009
Excerpts from Evan Wolfson's speech while being honored by the National Employment Lawyers Association of New York on November 19, 2009:
In Maine a couple weeks ago, the marriage legislation passed earlier in the year was subjected to an up-or-down vote by ballot-measure. A minority should not have to go before the majority and plead for an end to discrimination in a vote on fundamental rights; nevertheless, we came very close to prevailing. The most striking demographic feature was that we overwhelmingly carried the urban areas, while the more rural parts of Maine – and there are a lot of them – voted against equality.[Link]
In other words, in places where gay people are most visible, where our families most integrated into the fabric of life, where we’ve had the most conversations about who gay people are and why marriage matters, people affirmed the freedom to marry. In the areas with less visibility and fewer conversations, we narrowly failed to move the just 15,000 more people whose support would have made the difference.
The path ahead is clear: we need more of us, gay and non-gay, speaking with others in our circles and beyond about the shared values of family, fairness, and freedom –the values underlying this human rights movement, a movement in which NELA/NY has played a proud part.