Gay marriage in Maine

Gay marriage is going mainstream at a "head-spinning" pace, said The Economist's Democracy in America blog. Maine's Democratic governor, John Baldacci—who'll reach his term limit next year—probably didn't take a big political risk by signing a law that made his state the fifth to permit same-sex marriage. "But increasingly states with lots of white liberals and moderates are falling to the gay marriage wave." Soon, the only holdouts will be solidly conservative and heavily black states.

Hold on, said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in Opposing Views. Citizens in Maine have a right to a "People's Veto" when their elected officials go overboard. So let's hope the people of Maine gather the 60,000 signatures necessary to force a statewide vote, so they can block this "dangerous bill"—which is designed to "destroy marriage and family structure as we know it."

If it takes putting gay marriage on the ballot in November, said the Portland, Maine, Press Herald in an editorial, so be it. It shouldn't take a popular vote to protect civil rights, but in this case it "is a necessary step toward securing lasting support for equality for Maine's gay and lesbian citizens." For now, though, the people of Maine should be proud of their elected leaders for standing up for what's right.

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