Christian grandmother, Elaine Graham, bears her cross in the Maine State House

A careless remark at a legislative session in Augusta on Tuesday provoked an unexpected response from a member of the public. The fourteen-member Judiciary Committee met Tuesday to vote on sending the bill to the Maine Senate. Much of the work session was routine, but when Representative Cynthia Dill told how she had arrived at her decision on the most important and dangerous bill ever to reach the Maine Legislature, someone from the public decided they had had enough.

At one point in the session, Representative Dill turned to a fellow legislator and stated that 'her decision came naturally" and "was made in a split-second." Dill went on to claim that same sex marriage "was not a moral issue." At that point, Elaine Graham, a dedicated supporter of traditional marriage shouted "It is a moral issue!" several times, then joined other protestors in the hallway where she displayed a sign opposing same sex marriage. She was eventually escorted from the building by capitol police.

The Maine Family Policy Council has repeatedly asserted that the debate over same sex marriage is fundamentally one of ethics and morality, and not law and civil rights.

The final vote was eleven to two in favor of sending the bill on to the Senate. The lopsided vote confirmed the suspicion that the vote on same sex marriage is already a 'done deal', and that legislators never had any real intention of listening to the public.

The committee unanimously voted down Representative Fossel's bill which would legalize civil unions. Many are speculating that legislators intentionally eliminated the civil union bill so the public would have no choice between same sex marriage and civil unions when the legislature votes in May.