When the Maine Legislature Comes Out ccording to press reports and eyewitness accounts, the majority of the Maine Legislature in March “outed” themselves by donning pink triangles and rainbow flag stickers. The legislators were out- raged that a conservative Christian group opposed to gay marriage had posted on its web- site a request for “tips, rumors, speculation and facts” about the sexual orientation of legislators, lobbyists, and state officials. According to one legis- lator, whose account was passed along on a campus directors list- serve, “I happened to be at the Maine Statehouse today quite early. The Republican caucus arrived for a meeting. Many were muttering under their breaths, ‘we ought to all come out.’ Seems that the Christian Civic League (do I need to describe its work?) had posted a web site request for tips and rumors about any legislators who might be gay. The Augusta paper, the Kennebec Journal, carried the news as a banner headline. “By late morning, little construction paper triangles of pink were being donned (with marvelous hatpins) by staff, lob- byists and legislators. It was quite a sight. By midday, the Senate had issued a letter denouncing the CCL with every Senator sign- ing on! “Every once in a while, things work the way they should Rep. Larry Bliss, who also works at the University of Southern Maine, added to the story: “In addition to working at USM, I am a State Legislator, so I was at the State House too. The Democrats hold a majority in both houses, and the Governor is a Dem as well. This year, we passed the budget without any Republicans, and since then, things have been very sour between the parties. But this issue solidified everyone. Even the ultra-conservative legislator who does the bidding of the Christian Civic League (and who goes out of his way to prevent me from even touching him) sent me a note telling me that he respected me as a legislator, and thought the CCL had gone too far. Now THAT was amazing!” The director of the Christian Civic League later apologized for his actions and removed the request from the website, according to the reports in the Kennebec Journal and ‘Morning Sentinel. Some legisla- tors characterized the apology as “too little too late.” Maine has no civil rights protections for gay men and les- bians. V Oregon Court Okays Equal Marriage Portland, OR — In a case brought , by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nine same-sex couples and Basic Rights Oregon, a Circuit Courtjudge struck down an Oregon law that prevents same-sex couples from marrying and ordered Oregon to recognize the 3,000 same-sex marriages that have already been performed. The court did not decide how Oregon must treat same-sex couples going forward. it gave the state legislature the opportunity either to extend marriage to same- sex couples or to devise a system of civil unions like that adopted by Vermont. Roey Thorpe, Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon, said, “While you already know in your hearts that you are married, an Oregon court has just taken a giant step toward making sure the state treats your marriage just like all other marriages.” This decision answers the fundamental issue of whether or not the state can continue to dis- criminate against same-sex couples in the marriage laws. The judge found that it could not, saying that it was a violation of the state’s equal protection guarantees to dis- criminate in the rights and obliga- tions of marriage on the basis of gender and sexual orientation. The court’s ruling confimis legal opin- ions by attorneys for Multnomah County and the state legislature as well as the state Attorney General. In his decision, thejudge ordered the state to recognize the 3,000 marriages that have already taken place in Oregon. He also ordered Multnomah County to stop issuing marriage licenses to same- sex couples, but said it should resume issuing those licenses if the legislature does not come up with a remedy for the discrimination with- in 90 days of the next legislative session, whether regular or special. “This court rightly recog- nized that same-sex couples are discriminated against by the state in marriage,” said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. * “But by acknowledging this discrimination, thejudge should have also realized that it cannot be fixed by creating a sys- tem of civil unions that does noth- ing more than highlight the dis- crimination,” Fidanque added. “Where is the equality when same- sex couples are forced to refer to their relationships as ‘unions’ while straight couples get the preferred and more socially acceptable term of marriage? You can’t use the law to say one group ofAmericans is not as good as another.” V This information was received in a press release from the ACLU at press time. Gay Games Compete for Support Vous Montreal 2006 and the Federation of Gay Games laid claim to support from European gay and lesbian sports groups. In addition, the Chicago Gay Games has scored a coup with the enlistment of tennis legend Billie Jean King to help promote the games. After the failure of negotiations between the Montreal group and the FGG over financial control, the FGG designated Chicago as the new site for the 2006 Gay Games. Montreal declared that it would con- tinue with planning for a gay and lesbian sports and cultural gathering in 2006. According to Rendez-Vous Montreal nu dueling press releases, both Rendez- 2006, on March 7, the annual assembly of the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF), with a membership of more than 100 sports teams and 10,000 athletes in Europe, voted in favor of withdrawing from the Federation of Gay Games (FGG). Equipe Montreal also withdrew from the FGG in November 2003. In addition, Rendez-Vous Montreal 2006 inked reciprocal information and pro- motion deals with EGLSF for various sports events between now and 2006. “With the European network and support,” said Louise Roy, Chief Executive Officer of Rendez-Vous Montreal 2006, “our ability to reach gay and lesbian athletes across Europe has now increased dramatical- ly. Each year, over one hundred sporting events are held under the EGLSF banner, which means that Rendez-Vous Montreal 2006 will enjoy the benefits of an unparal- leled and targeted promotional campaign to a pool of over 10,000 people. We now believe that European participation in the Montreal games will meet our original predictions.” Rendez-Vous Montreal 2006 is scheduled for July 29-August 5, 2006. But according to the FGG’s press release, the EGLSF has not abandoned its support for the Chicago Gay Games, even though the FGG “regrets” the European fed- eration’s departure. “Montreal 2006 omits a key fact from its press release however. At its March 6-7 Amsterdam Meeting the entire EGLSF assembly stressed repeatedly its strong sup- port for the Gay Games, and specifically Gay Games VII in Chicago,” said the Gay Games statement. A liaison committee has been formed, and Chicago Games, Inc., says it will have the same access to information and pro- motion exchanges with the EGLSF as Montreal 2006. The Chicago Gay Games VII is scheduled for July 15-22, 2006. V