Maine House to take up gay marriage bill (Portland Press Herald 5/5/09)

[fight4my3sons]

Prospects for the bill appear favorable, but the final decision may rest with a referendum vote.

AUGUSTA — The Maine House will register its first votes today on a same-sex marriage bill, whose prospects appear good given heavy co-sponsorship by members and momentum from last week's Senate vote in favor of the measure.

The bill, which won a 21-14 vote of approval in the Senate on Thursday, has 64 co-sponsors, 55 of them representatives. Sponsorship is overwhelmingly Democratic, the majority party in both chambers. There are 95 Democrats in the 151-member House.

"With 50-plus co-sponsors, we feel cautiously optimistic it will be a very good vote," said Shenna Bellows of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, a leading supporter of the bill.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=254605&ac=PHnws

[eShirl]

1. live video of Maine House of Representatives here

("adjurned until 10:00 AM")

http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/h_video.htm

[eShirl]

2. now broadcasting (kick)

[bicentennial_baby]

4. Thanks for the link, watching now

Interesting stuff.

[JackBeck]

3. My buddy is in the balcony.

He just said that the pages are delivering the messages from constituent phone calls to their reps and that, "it's starting".

[JackBeck]

5. "This is not a gay bill. It's a bill about love, equality and dignity."

Did anyone catch who said that?

[bicentennial_baby]

6. I think it was Rep. Carey

:hi:

[JackBeck]

9. Thanks.

Getting tweets from my friend sitting in the balcony.

:hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

7. The Rep from Ripley is an asshole

:)

[JackBeck]

8. Boo!!! What a dbag.

[bicentennial_baby]

11. Where's this guy going with the hormones?

:wtf:

Oh nevermind...homos are biologically imbalanced. :puke:

[cecilfirefox]

10. I'm stuck in a University computer lab,

Can people give a bit of a play by play? Who seems to have more support from inside the House? Also, will the vote be today or just debate?

Will watch after noon when I get back to my room!

[eShirl]

12. twit going on about hormone imbalance and genetic abberations

Rep. Ayotte

[bicentennial_baby]

13. What an asshole...

Wow.

[bicentennial_baby]

14. Rep. Ayotte needs to STFU

Basically, he hates the gays, but he's not intolerant...Er...whut?

[JackBeck]

17. Just keeps us away from his children. n/t

[JackBeck]

15. Rep. Morrison from South Portland just came out.

Talking about his partner's suicide 4 years ago.

(I wish my stream was working!)

[bicentennial_baby]

16. Rep. Morrison is making me cry

:cry:

[JackBeck]

18. The Task Force and Equality Maine flipped Sirois just a few days ago.

Doesn't support gays but supports the bill.

[bicentennial_baby]

19. Awesome...this is encouraging.

:bounce:

[cecilfirefox]

20. The guy with the interracial marriage story, heck he choked me up when he started! nt!

[JackBeck]

21. Van Wie is now speaking about his interracial marriage

and the Loving case.

"I cannot imagine not being allowed to marry the woman I love. I cannot imagine traveling across state lines to celebrate my love."

[bicentennial_baby]

22. Awww, he's all choked up...

This is a powerful debate. Wow.

[JackBeck]

24. Lots of moving testimony today.

How am I gonna get any work done???

:pals:

[bicentennial_baby]

25. I know! I'm supposed to be getting ready to go to campus...

But I don't want to miss anything. :pals:

[Creideiki]

23. I'm not sure how to feel about this

Marriage is such a touchy subject--I wouldn't want to offend anyone.

[cecilfirefox]

26. This next guy, the one who's a reitred police officer, now he's going to start talking about how

we'll damage children. It's so sad that people are still so mired in this non sense. :( I'm praying to the Gods for victory and justice.

[eShirl]

27. ugh. He needs to take a remedial class in logic. n/t

[bicentennial_baby]

29. I know, right?

:crazy:

[cecilfirefox]

28. That man is just revolting. How tragic. nt

[cecilfirefox]

30. When is the vote called? I got class at the end of the hour, hoping I can watch it.

[bicentennial_baby]

31. Oh noes! A culture war!

:eyes:

[cecilfirefox]

32. Simple referendum vote in Maine? Joy. If that passes it will go to vote, and that makes me nervous..

nt

[JackBeck]

34. Most likely people's referendum veto in November.

Ground game is going to be crucial to make sure the vote goes our way.

An encouraging sign is that last November, Equality Maine far exceeded expectations in registering support for marriage equality.

They collected something like 30,000 signatures in support on Election Day. Were only expecting about 10 or 15 thousand.

People were signing scraps of paper because they ran out of postcards.

[cecilfirefox]

38. I wonder what the poll data says there. Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and go to bat. nt

[bicentennial_baby]

39. Pick me up on your way North next time

I wanna help. :)

[JackBeck]

41. Absolutely. It was an eye-opening experience.

The Task Force is the best resource our community currently has to help with capacity building and grassroots activism.

I'd never canvassed before, but got a taste up in Maine of what to expect when we start hitting the streets back here in Jersey.

[bicentennial_baby]

42. I miss working with MassEquality

We kicked ass. :D

[JackBeck]

44. Yes you did!!

You should be proud of all that hard work, cause this shit ain't easy.

:loveya:

[bicentennial_baby]

33. Imagine being Rep. Briggs' daughter

OUCH. x(

[cecilfirefox]

35. I feel bad for Rep. Briggs to. nt

[bicentennial_baby]

36. I don't...

She's a bigot. Bigoted against her own daughter.

Maybe I pity her, but I don't feel particularly bad.

[JackBeck]

37. Live blogging at www.mainewomen.org

http://www.mainewomen.org/blog/

[bicentennial_baby]

40. Rep. Magnan....interesting woman

Good for her. :thumbsup:

[bicentennial_baby]

43. Way to hide behind Obama, Rep. Thibodeau

:eyes:

[Creideiki]

62. Who's worse?

The person who erects the barricade or the person who hides behind it?

[bicentennial_baby]

45. Rep. supports equality even if it costs him his reelection

Nice. Didn't catch his name.

[JackBeck]

46. Flaherty? n/t

[fight4my3sons]

47. I think it was Flaherty.

I just picked my twins up from preschool and am trying to listen over their commotion. Thank you for your notes above! :)

[JackBeck]

48. #marryME for those following on Twitter.

Or you can follow RebelPrinceTrys for updates.

[bicentennial_baby]

49. Rep. Eaton was on fire!

:bounce:

[JackBeck]

50. Rep. Butterfield: "History’s villians are the ones who have stood in the way of progress."

:applause:

[bicentennial_baby]

51. Wow, a good Republican...will wonders never cease?

[JackBeck]

52. My stream is down. Did the vote just begin?

[JackBeck]

53. I'm hearing 87-61 in favor. n/t

[fight4my3sons]

54. all I heard was a call for absentees and it went out n/t

[JackBeck]

55. Voting on direct ballot referendum, without collecting sigs.

[JackBeck]

56. No amendment. Phobes will have to collect sigs!

[bicentennial_baby]

57. Yep

:D

[JackBeck]

58. Make the fuckers spend some money collecting signatures.

;)

[JackBeck]

59. Final vote: 89-58.

On to the Governor!

[lazyriver]

60. On to Baldacci indeed and time to start calling him.

Have you seen a roll call posted anywhere yet? I couldn't find one.

[JackBeck]

61. Haven't found a roll call.

My understanding is that Baldacci went from strong civil unions supporter, to being open to signing this marriage equality bill.

[lazyriver]

63. I couldn't get thru to my rep's office to ask how he voted but

would be pretty surprised if he didn't vote yes (Bob Duchesne, D-Hudson).

I'm thinking Baldacci sees the momentum, recognizes the will of the people and will sign the bill but I'll be calling him anyway.

[fight4my3sons]

65. I think they will be here:

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/rollcalls.asp?ID=280031932

[fight4my3sons]

66. Village Soup article with how some of the Reps voted.

Voting for L.D. 1020, “An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom," were Democratic Reps. Chuck Kruger of Thomaston, Edward Mazurek of Rockland, Elizabeth Miller of Somerville, Andrew O'Brien of Lincolnville, Wendy Pieh of Bremen, Hannah Pingree of North Haven, and Joan Welsh of Rockport.

Voting against the bill were Republican Reps. Wes Richardson of Warren and Jonathan McKane of Newcastle.


http://knox.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=157480

[lazyriver]

68. Bob Duchesne did not disappoint me...

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/rollcall.asp?ID=280031932&chamber=House&serialnumber=52

[fight4my3sons]

64. From EqualityMaine:

The second Senate vote is expected to happen this week and action by the Governor could come soon after that. The bill would then become law 90 days after the adjournment of the Legislature, expected in mid-June. If opponents of marriage equality seek to mount a people’s veto campaign, they would need to gather signatures for a referendum vote, which could be held as soon as November.

If opponents force this issue to the ballot, Smith said she was optimistic about the results. EqualityMaine has been organizing in all areas of the state, and they have found strong support for marriage equality. “Our work all across Maine has convinced us that Maine people are in support of granting fair and equal treatment for all families, and we are confident that we will prevail if it comes to a vote,” said Smith.


http://equalitymaine.org/marriage-and-families/marriage-wins-house-89-58

[phrigndumass]

67. At long last, there's no need to wait, lol

Thank you for this terrific thread!!! :hi: :loveya:

[fight4my3sons]

69. Good Morning my dear friend :)

it's nice to see your post :loveya:

There's a poll on the cover of the Portland Press Herald today:

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/

[JackBeck]

70. News 13 video:

http://www.wgme.com/News/story_video/playFlashVideo.shtml?WGME_newsd

Darlene was in my canvassing group. I'm so happy for her and everyone that fought to make this happen.

[bicentennial_baby]

71. Senate getting ready to vote on final bill:

http://twitter.com/MWLobbyist

[fight4my3sons]

72. The Senate Passed it!

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/newsupdate.php?updates/maine-senate-passes-same-sex-marriage-bill