Friday - May 08, 2009

Sneaky Bastards In New England

Yesterday:

Maine’s governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators were also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor, who hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region’s sole holdout.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat who hadn’t indicated how he would handle his state’s bill, quickly signed it.

“In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,” Baldacci said in a statement read in his office. “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.”

The vote by the Maine Senate was 21-13, with one lawmaker absent. The bill authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House had passed the bill Tuesday.

Today:

Couples anxious to wed under Maine’s new gay marriage law may have a long wait. A formal challenge to it has been filed, setting into motion plans for a possible public vote that could be months or more than a year away.

“We’re very disappointed,” said Steve Ryan of Buxton, who was looking forward to the new law with his partner, Jim Bishop. “We plan to get married as soon as we can. This is going to put our whole life on hold.”

Activists on both sides Thursday started working up strategies for campaigns leading up to a possible November referendum under a state constitutional provision known as the people’s veto.

“The wheels are turning,” Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, Maine’s chief election official, said after opponents filed an application that sets the stage for the challenge process ahead.

The deadline for opponents to collect at least 55,087 signatures will probably fall in mid-September, about the time the gay marriage law is due to take effect.

However, the law would be stayed as soon as the signatures are submitted for review by election officials. And the timing of when petitions are turned in will determine whether the referendum can be scheduled for this November or June 2010.

Marc Mutty of the Roman Catholic Diocese said challengers expect to get the go-ahead by May 21 to begin collecting signatures to get a referendum on the bill, which was signed Wednesday by Gov. John Baldacci.

Baldacci’s action preceded by only hours a vote by the New Hampshire Legislature that sanctioned gay marriage in that neighboring state, but Gov. John Lynch has not decided whether he’ll sign the bill.

The phone in Lynch’s reception room rang constantly Thursday with callers either pleading for him to sign the bill or veto it.

Marriage has been a binding act between a man and a woman since ... forever. Probably even before that. And the local religion is almost always involved, no matter what it is. There have been cultures that allowed a man to have several wives. There have even been a couple of cultures that allowed women to have multiple husbands. But as far as I know, no culture has EVER allowed the definition of marriage to encompass man-man, woman-woman, or groups. Or livestock. Or inanimate objects. Even Islam generally ... generally, Ok Aisha? ... generally even keeps the consummation of marriage between two people who have at least reached puberty. So arranged marriages between children, while being very very old school, don’t get down to the nitty-gritty until both parties are old enough. Marriage. It’s a hetero thing; you wouldn’t understand. We’re Straight, It’s Great, Get Used To It.

This is just one more ultra-liberal act of breaking down the brick wall of our culture. Straight out of the Marxist playbook too. I’m having a Vizzini moment: such a thing is inconceivable to me.

I’m very glad that the citizen’s of Maine are throwing a hissy fit, challenging this law, and demanding a referendum. NOTE TO STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATORS: Don’t take it upon yourselves to pass culture changing legislation. Some things DEMAND the people to make a choice on. And once that choice is made, you stick with what the people say. For at least a decade.

If given a choice, will the voters in Maine [ and in New Hampshire next ] vote for gay marriage? I don’t know. But let’s give them that choice, and let’s make an effort to get them educated on the topic first, and what the ramifications are, including the impact on health care costs if there are any, and whatever else.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/08/2009 at 10:52 AM   
Filed Under: • Gay Gay Gay! • News-Briefs •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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