Gay-rights bill headed in right direction

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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The Maine Senate nudged the state in the right direction Monday by giving initial support to the governor's gay-rights initiative.

Senators backed the bill 25-10 in its first reading and are expected to hold a final vote today.

The House of Representatives is likely to take up the matter Wednesday.

The bill's passage would make Maine the last New England state to enact a civil-rights law that includes sexuality.

Submitted by Democratic Gov. John E. Baldacci and sponsored by Republican Sen. Karl W. Turner of Cumberland, the gay-rights bill would amend the Maine Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation among the protected classes in housing, employment, education, credit and public accommodations.

The act now prohibits discrimination based on gender, race, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

Some opponents of the Baldacci's proposal say it would afford "special rights" to gays and lesbians.

Not true.

The bill would simply give homosexuals the same protections that other Mainers already have. It would ensure, for example, that a person could not be denied employment or thrown out of an apartment because he or she is gay.

Following a public hearing last week, the Legislature's Judiciary Committee voted 9-4 to support the anti-discrimination bill.

More than 100 gay-rights supporters and several opponents came to the Statehouse on Wednesday to testify. Gay men told of being fired or ridiculed at work -- only to have supervisors make no effort to protect them or stop the taunting.

One woman said she had to take out a $17,000 loan to enroll her daughter in a private school because other kids thought she was gay.

The battle over gay rights has been ongoing for almost 30 years in Maine. The Legislature rejected bills repeatedly from 1977 until 1993, when it approved a law that Republican Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. then vetoed.

The House and the Senate passed a similar gay-rights bill in 1997, and it was signed into law by Gov. Angus S. King Jr., an independent.

The Christian Civic League of Maine mounted a campaign to overturn that vote, and voters ultimately rejected the bill in February 1998.

In 2000, the Legislature sent another gay-rights bill to voters, who rejected it.

Given this history, Baldacci is opposed to sending his gay-rights bill to voters.

We agree with his strategy.

One of the principles of American government -- "majority rule, minority rights" -- dictates that no majority, even in a democracy, should take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual.

Lawmakers, not voters, should decide the gay-rights bill. The governor and Legislature are elected to make decisions that are best for all who live in Maine.

By excluding homosexuals, the Maine Human Rights Act denies equal protection to many people or their family members, friends, neighbors or co-workers.

That is not acceptable.

Lawmakers and the governor have the opportunity to correct this immediately.

No one should be surprised, however, if voters end up having a say in the matter.

Some of the bill's conservative opponents -- notably Michael S. Heath, executive director of The Christian Civic League of Maine -- say they plan to gather signatures to have the bill put to a statewide referendum.

Those opponents must gather 50,519 signatures to force a "people's veto."

History has shown that Heath and his socially conservative, intolerant supporters will work diligently to get the anti-discrimination bill on the ballot.

We hope they fail and Maine soon becomes the 16th state to guarantee equal rights for all of its residents.