"These conversations have begun," Bellow says. But they won't likely conclude for some time. "We are committed to continuing this marriage equality campaign in the most effective and efficient way. We want to make sure all Maine families are protected as quickly as possible." But, she adds, "I think it's really important that our decisions be made not on one person's personal opinion, but a careful, thorough analysis of all avenues. To do that analysis is going to take some time. The worst thing would be to act in undue haste and lose." (Again.)
In the meantime, leaders of the pro-marriage movement are stressing the continued relevance of working strategies such as the Family Ambassadors Project, which encourages parents of school-age children to talk about same-sex marriage in their communities; and the faith-based conversations spurred by the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine.
A different perspective is from those who are happy to get back to non-marriage matters. Throughout this and other gay-marriage campaigns, some queer activists have expressed their own discomfort about feeling obligated to fight for an institution about which they feel ambivalent, while other essential battles — against HIV/AIDS, homelessness, domestic violence, and general discrimination — struggle for money and media attention. Now, some of those battles can reclaim center stage. Just two days after the election, for example, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force submitted testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, supporting for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace (and which both Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins support). The Senate committee held a hearing on the legislation last Thursday.
Related:
The rain in Maine, Letters to the Portland Editor: July 10, 2009, Just the beginning, More 
- The rain in Maine
If you're planning a trip to Vacationland this summer, be sure to bring your galoshes — the "gay storm" that's been satirized all over the Internet rolled into Maine last week.
- Letters to the Portland Editor: July 10, 2009
A recent EqualityMaine campaign letter claimed that gay marriage is "the fight for our lives." I wonder whose lives they are talking about, when AIDS service organizations and community health/reproductive clinics across the state have been tightening their belts and desperately trying to crunch numbers.
- Just the beginning
More than a few people asked us why we are publishing this special section now — now that gay-marriage opponents have filed their People's Veto signatures, now that same-sex marriages will not be taking place at least until after Mainers vote on the issue on November 3.
- State House status
Rhode Island voters, for all their supposed insularity, are an increasingly progressive bunch.
- Saying their ‘I don’ts’
In case it slipped by one or two of you out there, Maine is a pretty homogenized state overall, even more so than a carton of Oakhurst or Hood milk.
- Continuing homophobia
Deirdre Fulton's and Shay Stewart-Bouley's comments and Seth Berner's letter on the Marriage Equality Act repeal are insightful. I would add another perspective.
- Granite grind
Much of New England joined the march toward marriage equality this year, but in the comparably conservative Granite State, its legalization has heated up a partisan battle for control of the governorship in 2010, promising that this political war isn't quite over.
- One man, one octupus
Marriage equality
- Marrying into history
remember the day Vermont legalized Civil Unions for same-sex couples. I was in college at the time and I remember thinking out loud that I could move there and get "Civil Union-ed" someday. It didn't sound the same as my previous dreams of getting "Married."
- Economic scale
We want what everyone wants — happiness and the personal freedoms our forefathers lived and died for.
- Benign neglect?
If you are gay or lesbian, or if you care about realizing social justice, you must be wondering when Obama is going to turn his attention to the fact that one in 10 of the nation's more than 230 million adults are second-class citizens.
- Less
Topics:
This Just In
, Barack Obama, Elections and Voting, Politics, More
, Barack Obama, Elections and Voting, Politics, Special Interest Groups, Social Issues, Democratic National Committee, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Same-Sex Marriage, Referenda, Less
