Tag: Maine

The Takeaway

Maine's Gay Marriage Repeal Viewed Nationally

Thursday, November 05, 2009

On Tuesday, Maine voters headed to the polls and reversed the state legislature's decision to permit gay marriage. Maine is the third state in the country where voters repealed a legislature-granted law allowing same-sex marriage, and the 31st state to ban gay marriage outright. We ask Columbia University law professor Suzanne Goldberg, director of the Gender and Sexuality Law Program, if this repeal is part of a larger national trend. We also speak with Jill Barkley, a resident of Portland, Me., who was planning to marry her partner next summer; and to Andrew McLean, a gay man in Portland, Me., who volunteered with Equality Maine.

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The Takeaway

To Revoke or Not? Maine Voters to Decide Gay Marriage Law

Monday, November 02, 2009

"Question 1" on Tuesday's ballots in Maine, much like last year's "Proposition 8" in California, would explicitly revoke recently granted marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in Maine if it passes. The initiative asks:

"Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?"

Abby Goodnough, from The New York Times, gives us an overview of the initiative and its national significance. We're also joined by Shenna Bellows, from Maine's ACLU; and Brian Souchet, from the anti-gay-marriage group Stand for Marriage Maine.

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The Takeaway

The Maine Event: Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

Monday, May 11, 2009

Last week Maine became the fifth state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. Maine's Democratic-controlled Senate voted 21-13 in support of the bill, which redefines marriage as the legal union of two people rather than between a man and a woman. Maine's Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted 89-57. The House spent nearly three hours in what has been described as an emotionally-charged debate. One of the seven Republicans Representatives to vote in favor of the bill is Representative Pat Flood. He talk sabout how he wrestled with the issue and reached his decision.

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