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| 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.