An evangelical
group has abandoned its campaign to overturn Maine's law
protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination, days after
California began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex
couples.
"We're pulling
the plug," Michael Heath, executive director of the
Christian Civic League of Maine, said Thursday. The group
failed to attract the voter, volunteer, and financial
support it needed to continue its campaign to put a
repeal measure to a vote, he said.
The group
collected only a third of the 15,000 voter signatures it had
set as a goal for primary election day June 10, Heath said.
Citing tags opponents had applied to initiative
backers, he said potential volunteers "don't want to
be aligned with bigotry and homophobia and hatred."
EqualityMaine,
which had placed volunteers at the polls June 10 to
discourage voters from signing the initiative ballots,
welcomed the decision.
"This was a
really broad attack on gays and lesbians and their
families," said Betsy Smith, EqualityMaine's executive
director. "Mainers are generally fair-minded, and I
think they sent a strong message on primary day."
The evangelical
group would have needed at least 55,087 valid voter
signatures by January to send their proposal to the
legislature next year. Lawmakers would probably have
rejected it, and under Maine law the question would
have gone to voters no sooner than November 2009.
The proposal
would have repealed Maine's law protecting gays and lesbians
from discrimination in employment, housing, public
accommodation, credit, and education. It also would
have reaffirmed Maine's law restricting marriages to
one man and one woman; ensured that only one unmarried
person or one married couple jointly could adopt a person;
prohibited clerks from issuing marriage licenses to
persons of the same sex; and prohibited municipalities
from licensing civil unions.
California and
Massachusetts are the only two states to have legalized
gay marriage. A handful of states allow civil unions or
domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. (AP)
