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Mountain Pride Media thanks the
following volunteers who recently
joined in on our stuffing night:

Ray Remillard, Joe Swinyer, Marie (mais ouil),
Lynn McNicol, Kate MacTavish, David Lynch.,
Tom McGlenn, Ron Bernard, Miguel Rivera,

Greg Weaver, Dave Altier, Steve Ekberg,
Matt Webb, lim P., Bob Wolff.

JOIN US AT OUR NEXT STUFFING NIGHT:

Wed. October 26, 5pm

Pizza and soda provided —
conversation optional!

      

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Ripley endured when, due to

his sexual orientation, he was
subjected to threats and assault at
work. “I’m a hard worker and
enjoy having ajob. But it’s been
very hard for me to keep a job
since I came out nine years ago.”
Ripley left one job and was fired
from two more before finally find-
ing an employer who enforces'the
company’s non-discrimination
policy.

Imagine too the profound hurt
and hassle Hall Wilkie and Tom
Craveiro suffered when they were
thrown out of a bed-and-breakfast
inn. According to Wilkie, “We 9
tried to salvage our vacation, but
finding other accommodations
was very difficult at the height of
the summer season. My mother
and sister are buried here, a place
of special importance to us. But
we cannot now return there confi-
dent that innkeepers will not dis-
criminate against us simply
because of our sexual orientation.”

And then there is school
Superintendent Paul Knowles,
who explains, “As a teacher and
administrator in the public schools
for twenty-six years, I have wit-
nessed and dealt with dozens of
blatant verbal and physical attacks
against students who have been
perceived as, or were, openly gay
or lesbian. Not to recognize these
students and to provide a safe and
supportive school environment for
them will continue to place at
least ten percent of the high
school’s population at risk for
self-harm and/or potentially life-
threatening treatment.”

If these incidents had happened
elsewhere, perhaps somewhere
deep in the Bible belt, they may
not have come as such a shock.
But this was Maine, home to the
color blue in the last four
Presidential elections. Home to a
Democratic governor and legisla-
ture and the nation’s first Green
Party state representative. Apex of
the liberal northeast and welcom-
ing summer playground to mil-
lions from across the nation and
the globe. The home of my own
maternal roots, boyhood, and
hearth and home today. According
to the first sign you see upon
entering the state, Maine is “The
Way Life Should Be.”

But we are also home to the
Christian Civic League of Maine,
headed by Michael Heath, who
seems intent on advancing the far-
right Christian fundamentalist

I magine the ordeal Martin

he 
Should

Life

 

Be, Almost.  

 

agenda in the blue northeast. And,
unfortunately, his crowd must be
credited with some past success.

The generally welcoming, tol-
erant, inclusive state of Maine,
until recently, was the only New
Englandstate that allowed dis-
crimination based on sexual orien-
tation. That changed last March
when Democratic Governor John
Baldacci signed LD 1196 “An Act
To Extend Civil Rights
Protections to All People
Regardless of Sexual Orientation.”
He did so with a solid majority
including 25 percent Republican
support. This law simply adds sex-
ual orientation to its list of pro-
tected classes and prohibits dis-
crimination in jobs, housing, cred-
it, lodging, and education.

But Mr. Heath and his CCLM
cohorts, as promised, forced a
November referendum to repeal
the law. Thus the law remains in_
limbo pending the referendum
vote, which Heath and Co. think
they can win. Given past per-
formance, they have some confi-
dence. _

The issue has a seesaw history
here. In 1977 Democratic legisla-

' tor Larry Connolly introduced the

first bill to prohibit discrimination
based on orientation. Connolly-
died in 1987 before any bill was
passed or sent to voters. In 1993
the legislature finally passed a bill,
but it was vetoed by Republican
Governor John McKeman. In
1995 Carolyn Cosby and her
Concerned Maine Families group
successfully placed a referendum
question on the ballot that would
have prohibited the state from
‘passing anylsuch non-discrimina-
tion laws and also would have

‘ invalidated existing local ordi-

nances protecting gays and les-
bians from discrimination. That
measure was defeated 53 percent
to 47 percent.

In 1997 the legislature passed
another law,'and this time

Independent Governor Angus
King signed it. But it was repealed
by referendum in 1998. In 2000,
rather than passing a bill, the leg-
islature approved going straight to
a new referendum to prohibit this

' kind of discrimination. It was

defeated by a very narrow 1 per-
cent margin.

So here we are. back for refer-
endum round four. But this time
things may be very different.
Where last time Heath and Co.
were screaming, “No special
rightsl,” this time they are playing
the “gay marriage” card despite
the law’s expressed same-sex mar-
riage prohibition. ‘

Maine Won’t Discriminate, the
coalition fighting the repeal,
thinks they have learned from the
past and have a strong chance to
prevail this time. They are better
organized with over.3O coalition
partners and a huge statewide
grassroots effort. They are framing
the issue their way: “A NO vote
means you are saying NO to dis-
crimination in Maine, period!”
Their professional campaign man-
ager is Jesse Connolly, who, as the
late Larry Connolly’s son, has a
deep personal investment in this
campaign. Polling data clearly
show Mainers’ distaste for dis-
crimination, and a clear majority
currently favor the law passed last
March. Progressive religious
authorities are ready to go head to
head with the fundamentalists.
This time MWD is clearly appeal-
ing to the better angels of our
nature while the other side appeals
to the worst.

I’m convinced that with a lot
of hard work we Mainers can send
a resounding message to the
extremists whowant to make their
narrow theology ever-yone’s public
policy. I’m convinced that with a
lot of hard work we can defini-
tively tell them that this is not
what we are about in Maine, that
in Maine, our moral values say
NO to the specter of discrimina-
tion in all its awful forms. I’m
convinced that with a lot of hard
work, Maine, once and for all, will
finally become “The Way Life
Should Be” for everyone who
chooses to live in or visit this
beautiful state.V

Ron Bilancia is an educator

from Brewer, Maine and a
volunteer member of Moine

Won ’r Discriminate
(wwwMaineWorztDiscriminatecom).