In May, 2009, the Maine Legislature extended marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. As expected, opponents of equality, led by the National Organization for Marriage and the Catholic Church, petitioned to have those rights put to a vote by referendum. This film chronicles the final days of the on-the-ground campaign to protect marriage equality in Maine.
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
The insidious power of fear, smears and ignorance has snatched marriage equality, once again, from lgbt folk. This time in Maine. 47% of voting Mainers supported marriage equality; not enough to be done with this madness now. But still, 47% is enough to know for certain that marriage equality in Maine and the greater LGBT Civil Rights Movement is only temporarily set back.
Read GLAD Executive Director Lee Swislow’s statement on the overturning of Maine’s marriage equality law: Question 1 Passes in Maine.
Read No on 1 Protect Maine Equalilty campaign manager Jesse Connolly’s statement on the overturning of Maine’s marriage equality law: Dear Supporters…
Maine No on 1 campaign headquarters the night before Election Day. Governor Baldacci had just spoken via conference call.
Campaign Manager Jessie Connolly, GLAD’s Mary Benauto, legislator Ben Dudley and No on 1 staff/volunteers in the boiler room of No on 1 headquarters. Yes on 1 claimed to support domestic partnership rights for lgbt people; this presser rebutted that claim.
11
Nov 09
No on 1: Those Last Horrible Hours
Photos I took while volunteering for the Maine No on 1 campaign from Oct 1 – Nov 3, 2009. Until those last horrible few hours on Election Day when a majority of voting Mainers (53%) voted away the hard won marriage equality of lgbt folk, the mood was optimistic, hopeful and building toward a celebration. Nothing I had imagined was able to prepare me for the shock and dejection that came after the last of these photos was taken; my camera had quit working an hour or so before I became aware of the polls turning in favor of Yes on 1.
When the full weight of what had happened pushed against me, I scrambled to get out of the Holiday Inn, where a celebration had been expected. But I couldn’t find my ride. As I searched through the confused crowds I noticed a young lady beginning to sob and being comforted by a friend or a might-have-been wife. My phone was dying and all my calls went to voice mail. Finally I borrowed a friend’s phone, found my ride and left the funereal disaster scene for the car where I sat alone listening to quiet music.
After so much effort – years of effort for some – had come abruptly to a dead end, my only thought was, “Now what?”