BY MATT WICKENHEISER

Maine Sunday Telegram

Supporters and opponents of gay marriage are gathering signatures, lobbying lawmakers and drafting legislation in anticipation of a State House battle over the issue in 2009.

In recent weeks, the politically charged issue has been heating up in Maine ahead of the new legislative session, which begins in early January. Coalitions of religious leaders on both sides have held press conferences advocating laws that would either make it legal for same-sex couples to wed or constitutionally prohibit the practice.

The advocacy group Equality Maine is ramping up its game, after three years of a low-key public education campaign to highlight gay and lesbian issues. And in opposition, a new group, the Maine Marriage Alliance, is pushing for an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"Efforts are pretty clearly under way to simply redefine marriage in the state," said the Rev. Bob Emrich, pastor of Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church in Plymouth and a founder of the alliance. "Let's put that issue to rest. We want to define marriage, put it in the current constitution so we don't have to wonder if the court or Legislature will overturn it."

Equality Maine has been talking with various groups around the state since 2005, when voters upheld a gay rights law passed by the Legislature, according to executive director Betsy Smith.

On Election Day, Equality Maine had 350 volunteers at 86 polling places, asking residents to sign postcards supporting same-sex marriage that would be sent to legislators. The goal was 10,000 signatures, and they collected 33,190, said Smith.

"There is clearly a lot of support for us winning marriage in Maine. There's a lot of momentum, there's a lot of enthusiasm. We're really getting a lay of the land," she said. "We'd be very excited to go forward with a bill."

Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said she's seen an outpouring of support for same-sex marriage from religious groups and from the civil rights community. The MCLU has hired a marriage organizer to have community discussions around the issue, and has secured funds to set up a Web site dedicated to it, said Bellows.

Several weeks ago, the new Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry held four press conferences around the state, including one at Immanuel Baptist Church in Portland. Pastor Deborah Davis-Johnson said faith-based opponents to same-sex marriage have been very vocal in Maine. "We thought it was time for us to do the best we could do to speak out," said Davis-Johnson.

But proponents are still considering all the pieces necessary to mount a campaign and get a bill before the Legislature, said Smith.

They've talked with lawmakers to gauge support. They've spoken with several, specifically, to see if they'd sponsor a bill -- though Smith declined to say which ones. They've met with Gov. John Baldacci's staff, and plan to meet with the governor, too.

But they're also aware the State House will be largely focused on dealing with an $838 million gap in its next two-year budget. Three pieces of citizen-initiated legislation that could go before voters next November are also having an impact. The legislation might draw more conservative-minded voters to the polls and if a same-sex marriage bill passes the Legislature, it would assuredly be challenged and put to referendum, said Smith, where it would face those voters. Emrich, of the Maine Marriage Alliance, confirmed that.

"If the Legislature passes it, if it legalizes any changes to the definition of marriage, the people's veto will start the next day," he said. "If the vote is early enough in the day, it will start the same day."

Emrich said if there is going to be a debate over the issue in Augusta, he wanted part of that debate to be over a constitutional amendment. So alliance organizers have been approaching lawmakers too, hoping to gain support for such a proposal, though he -- like Smith -- declined to say which lawmakers.

According to the group's Web site, the amendment would read: "Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

Smith noted that legislators have rejected similar attempts to amend the constitution in recent years. "They understand that the constitution is not a document to enshrine discrimination against one group of people," said Smith.

Bellows said the issue is one of equality. Gay and lesbian couples who can't marry in Maine don't enjoy some of the same rights and responsibilities as do married couples. There are tax advantages to marriage, there are next-of-kin issues when one partner is in the hospital, there are insurance questions and other issues.

"I hope we can all agree that what we're talking about here is civil marriage. The MCLU feels very strongly that religious liberty of all people must be protected," said Bellows. "We are not suggesting to any of the members of the Maine Marriage Alliance that they have to individually recognize marriage for gay and lesbian couples. What we're saying is the civil institution of marriage confers specific legal rights and responsibilities. To deny committed, loving couples those civil legal rights and responsibilities is discrimination."

Opponents see the fight as a way to preserve the traditional view of marriage, said Emrich, because "for 2,000 years, at least, that's been the norm, that's been the standard."

"For me, personally, there's a spiritual issue to all of this. Marriage, a union of a man and a woman, is God's design. That's been recognized by Christianity since the very beginning," said Emrich. "I just don't believe we have that option to say, in effect to God, 'Your plan doesn't work. We're going to change your design.'"