Both sides in the same-sex marriage debate can agree on one thing: This November's referendum seeking to overturn Maine's marriage equality law will be decided on voters' deeply held values.
For those who believe that you should live and let live, treat others as you want to be treated and that you should keep government out of private lives, the only vote can be "no.">
<A lot of money will be spent trying to convince voters that they would lose something if this law were allowed to stand. The argument will be made that the "institution of marriage" itself will be damaged – that somehow permitting same-sex couples to marry will diminish other marriages.
But there is no institution of marriage, just millions of marriages, all independent. A same-sex union between one couple won't undermine another couple's traditional marriage any more than would someone else's divorce. People marry each other, not institutions.
Expect to hear that if the referendum fails, Maine people would be forced to recognize relationships of which they don't approve. But that happens already.
Doctors, nurses, school secretaries – even IRS agents – don't get to decide which couples deserve to be considered married. Either they have a license or they don't, and if they do, they get to make medical decisions, pick a child up from school or file a joint tax return without facing any questions about their sexual practices. Basic fairness dictates that same-sex couples should be able to formalize their relationships without having to pass a moral test that is only imposed on them.>
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=277377&ac=No on 1/Equality Maine
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