Thursday, May 7, 2009

Maine Governor signs Same-Gender Marriage Law! Maine becomes the 5th state with Legal Same-Gender Marriage

Now we can imagine that the Farmer and the Sailor
on the Maine Flag are actually a gay couple
- and that they're LEGALLY MARRIED!!!


Wow. We're up to 10%. 5 out of 50 states. Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, and now Maine.

And we'll see where California ends up with the State Supreme Court's ruling on the legality of Prop 8... And on Tuesday of this week Washington, D.C., voted to recognize out-of-district same-gender marriages (though it still has to be approved by the US Congress)

What's really fascinating about Maine's entering on the side of same-gender marriage equality is what John Baldacci, the previously anti-gay marriage Governor of Maine, said in his written statment:


"In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions," Baldacci said in a written statement. "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."

And while there still may be a public referendum in Maine (what they call a "People's Veto") to strike same-gender marriage down, for now, we get to celebrate some Progress.

We will get to equality. One state at a time...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lee, honestly? I am pissed off you're celebrating this. No, I'm pissed off that you have to celebrate it, instead of "equality" being a goddamn given in this country. Yay for Maine, boo for the remaining 90% of states (including mine.)

MotherReader said...

i was impressed by the remarks of the Gov of ME where he acknowledged the growth of his viewpoint and said how wrong it was to deny rights to a group of citizens. I cheered for Maine and I'm crossing my fingers for DC. Like you said, one state (or District) at a time.

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

Hey Aerin - yes, I get your point, but really, if I don't allow myself to celebrate the good news, I'd be pissed off ALL the time!
thanks to you and Pam and all the other wonderful people who "get it!"
Namaste,
Lee