Maine Marriage Equality...Six By Twelve

Way up there in Maine, public hearings will begin today on legislation to allow same-sex marriage. Many people on both sides of the issue are expected to attend; so many, that the hearings will be held at the Augusta Civic Center.

One of the bills would repeal Maine’s 12-year-old so-called Defense of Marriage law, which bars same-sex marriage, while a second bill would make marriage gender-neutral; both bills were filed by Democratic Senator Dennis S. Damon.

The marriage bill states that churches would not be compelled to conduct same-sex weddings if it would be inconsistent with their doctrine. And that's how it should be. Marriage is a legal institution not a religious one, so if a church, any church, doesn't want to perform a same-sex wedding ceremony, that's okay in my book. I don't want to step on your religious rights, don't step on my legal ones.

But I digress.

The measure has more than 60 lawmakers as co-sponsors, from some of Maine's smallest towns ands largest cities, though normally no more than 10 lawmakers are allowed to sign on as co-sponsors. The other fifty asked to have have their names added.

And, in these dismal economic times, money comes into play as well. Maine’s tourism industry has said legalizing same-sex marriage in the state could save them from disaster as the state’s economy continues to turn sour. Industry spokespeople pointed to a recent study by the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California Los Angeles, that found extending marriage to same-sex couples would boost Maine’s economy by $60 million over three years, which would generate increases in state and local government tax and fee revenues by almost $3.6 million.

On the hate side, Repugnant Representative Leslie Fossel would create a domestic-partner registry while maintaining DOMA. It's the Go-Ahead-And-Announce-Your-Partnership-But-You-Can't-Get-Married Bill. It's less than; it's a slap in the face.

The conservative Maine Marriage Alliance, or as I like to call it Maine's Axis of Evil, has said that if same-sex marriage appears to be on a track to legalization it would press for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

I talked about this before--see HERE--but it bears repeating: Last November, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a Boston-based LGBT rights group, launched the “Six by Twelve” campaign to legalize gay marriage throughout all six New England states by 2012.