Senate Votes 21 to 14 to End Civil Marriage
By Mike Heath
May 1, 2009 - 6:02:08 AM
The vote by the Maine Senate yesterday to legalize same sex marriage should come as no surprise. The leadership of the Maine Family Policy Council has maintained from the beginning that the Maine Legislature is deaf to the issue of the sanctity of marriage and the family. Earlier in the day, more than eleven thousand postcards were delivered from members of the public who are against same sex marriage. The net result of this outpouring of sentiment from the public was to sway the vote of one Senator.
Among those who huddled by their computer monitors yesterday morning, anxiously watching the televised vote, the reaction was mixed. Some chuckled with amused disbelief; others shook their heads in dismay and disgust.
We can all agree that Maine has produced more than a few great orators and statesmen. We can count among their number our own native-born Dorothea Dix, James G. Blaine, Hannibal Hamlin, and Joshua Chamberlain. Sadly, we now live in a far different age. The Senate vote yesterday was no shining display of oratorical skills. It was more like a sensitivity training session than a deliberative assembly.
Though the proposed law is the most important and dangerous bill in the history of the Maine Legislature, no Senator spoke for more than ten minutes on the bill, and most legislators limited their comments to a few minutes. It often seemed that the outcome was a foregone conclusion, and the legislators seemed to be in a hurry to dispense with the issue. The first to speak was Senator Larry Bliss, an open homosexual from Los Angeles, and the former board member of several homosexual rights organizations. Bliss's argument in favor of homosexuality was that (1) homosexuality is normal (2) homosexuality is merely a violation of the ceremonial laws of the Bible, like eating shrimp or lobster, and (3) many of the great men of history were homosexuals.
Senator Phillip Bartlett rose to speak, and stated that he had thought of quoting Jefferson and maybe another of the Founding Fathers, but in the end, he decided that the play "Romeo and Juliet" was more pertinent. "Romeo and Juliet," Bartlett asserted, was about bad traditions which are harmful, like limiting marriage to heterosexual marriage. Bartlett concluded by saying that there are thousands of tragic Romeos and Juliets out there in Maine, and they are gay couples who are being prevented from marrying one another.
All of the Democratic Senators who spoke in favor of same sex marriage adopted a highly emotional tone, and their approach was probably a bit too self-centered. Some spoke of their own divorces, or elaborated on other family issues.
Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell began by saying she was a sixty-eight year old grandmother from the South; and that she had attended an all-white school, but confessed in a humble and candid tone that she is tolerant now. The closest Senator Mitchell came to a logical, reasoned approach was when she repeated the slogan popular in gay rights circles, "What is there about the word equality you do not understand?"
Listeners were perplexed when they heard Republican Senator Christopher Rector claim that he has not slept nights over the issue; and that he has weighed both sides carefully. Rector claimed that his mind was made up after he received responses from his constituents that were "overwhelmingly in favor of same sex marriage." This is puzzling because recent polls claim that the public is split almost fifty-fifty over the issue, and Knox County, which Rector represents, is surely no different. Rector is a former native of Needham, Massachusetts and studied at the Kennedy School of Government.
A slightly anti-religious tone was heard in the remarks of Senator John Nutting who said that opposition to same sex marriage comes mostly from Catholics and Baptists. Nutting also misquoted the Bible at one point. Nutting who says that he 'works in genetics' implied that the Bible cannot be trusted in the issue of same sex marriage, because the Bible says "Wives be subservient to your husbands."
But Maine is still a glorious place, and our tradition of plain-speaking and honest government won't die so easily. Senator Jonathan Courtney provided the most effective presentation of the day, by employing common sense, and using the language of the common man. Senator Courtney read from a letter by Bishop Malone which reveals how the issue of homosexual rights has already impacted religious liberties. The well-respected Senator Courtney has gained nationwide attention by speaking out in defense of the Second Amendment.
Senator Debra Plowman correctly noted that the current bill contains a clause which allows an objection based on conscience. She noted that no other bill which claims to work for equality needs such a provision.
The high moment of the morning came when Senator Carol Weston spoke. Senator Weston said that to legalize same sex marriage would be like moving a boundary marker which defines marriage. Once that is done, there is nothing to prevent someone else from coming along and moving the marker further. Weston's remarks were clear, forceful, and moving - in a word, Lincolnesque. Weston concluded with an ominous prophetic pronouncement. She stated that the day would come when many of those who voted for the same sex marriage bill will say, "I never meant this to be."
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