Yay Maine!
I don’t really have anything to debate here, just wanted to spread the word.
Six down, if you count DC.
How about this for a debate, then - will Congress use its power to override the District Council’s vote to recognize SSM’s performed elsewhere, or avoid the subject altogether (which is what I expect)? At what point will repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act pretty much be forced upon them?
I agree wholeheartedly. The sooner it’s fifty (fifty-one?) down, zero to go, the better.
I don’t understand this whole debate. Anybody can get married in the eyes of God. What should you care if the government recognizes it? It’s all about love, isn’t it?
There are lots of people who can’t get married in the eyes of God, depending on the flavor of God you’re talking about. And people care about whether the government recognizes their marriage because it’s also about whether your mother in law can decide to pull the plug on your ‘spouse’ against your will, among numerous other things.
Well, yeah.
That and inheritance, medical power of attorney, hospital visitation, inusrance coverages, joint ownerships and tenancies…
…and love, as you say.
Anybody can get married in the eyes of Zuul too, but he doesn’t provide the same marriage benefits as the government does.
No, it’s about a vast array of civil rights and responsibilities. No one can tell two people not to love each other, but currently there’s a lot of states where a gay man can be made to leave the deathbed of his longtime partner because he’s “not family”.
As a liberal Californian I find it embarrassing that we aren’t toeing the line here.
So by the looks of it, it sounds like there will be an attempt by anti-marriage advocates to get a public referendum on the ballot, so that the issue will be up to popular vote.
Anyone know more about Maine and how successful this kind of thing might be? They only need 55,000 signatures, so it sounds like it’ll be likely put on hold until next November or even June.
Good deal! It’s about bloody time this ball got rolling. New Hampshire’s next. I command it! 
Seems to me we are toeing the line, and that’s the problem… I’d rather be on the vanguard.
As a liberal, my god is Big Government.
He’ll never be Miss USA with that attitude.
There are anti-marriage advocates?
No, the new line. Not the old line. Shit… what line am I in?
Excuse me. “Anti-same-sex-marriage advocates”.
You could say “opposite-only-marriage-advocates”
True, but if you’re looking for a place on Central Park West with an inter-dimensional refrigerator, Zuul is the one to see.
I’m a Mainer. Michael Heath lives and breaths this stuff. There was a bill that was passed not too long ago regarding whether or not sexual orientation should be included in language prohibiting discrimination based upon religion, sex, color, etc. He flipped a bitch and collected near the requisite number of signatures. There were complaints here and there about which petitions were legitimate and whatnot. Long story short, it did end up going to referendum but it got shot down by a big margin. – I may be misremembering things; that may have been a City of Portland thing and not a State of Maine thing –
He may or may not succeed again in getting the requisite signatures and if it goes to referendum, there will be big tufts of fur flying all over the place between the righteous and the heathens.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I can gage whether or not the general public would keep the law intact. It’s a little more “heavy” than just rights against discrimination in the work place. There may be enough of an opposition to make it close, and maybe even overturn it.
The good news is, the gay rights groups here seemed to be more widely backed than the Maine Family Policy Council.