“As Maine Goes, So Goes The Nation?” Bull. Part One.
This is Part I. You can read Part II here.
There’s much to be said about the stunning – and it was stunning – defeat of Maine’s gay marriage law. There’s more to be said about its implications on the bigger picture of marriage equality and the overall picture of gay civil rights. And I’m going to say it all. It will take two parts. Come back for part two!
First and foremost, unlike California, Protect Maine Equality did an outstanding job. Regardless of the results, since 2005 these folks have been working towards equality the right way, by going door to door, sharing personal stories, forming coalitions, and even working with religious groups. They should hold their heads up high.
So, we lost marriage in Maine by a five point spread. Many of us had expected to win by just as much. The problem is, what do we do now?
The folks over at The Washington Blade’s offices asked out loud, “Is it time to set aside marriage and make the more pragmatic push for civil unions?” (More on this in Part II.)
In “You want pity because of Maine? You won’t be getting it from me,” Alvin McEwen writes today,
“There will be no deux ex machina descending from the sky making everything right. There will be no addendums or loopholes. It’s a job that will have to accomplished the hard way because there is no other way.”
Cody Daigle, in “The Lesson in Losing,” writes,
“[W]e need to start thinking and acting like a real community. This morning, I saw angry missives and comments online from friends of mine over the results of Maine. But those same people, in the weeks leading up to the vote, weren’t talking about it or thinking about it or caring about it. What happens to gay couples in Maine affects gay couples in Idaho affects single gay men in Mississippi affects gay people, coupled or not, everywhere. We’re a community, and until we really start caring about what happens to each and every one of us, nothing will change for any of us. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in marriage or don’t want to be married — act for those in your community who do. Because we’ll stand up for your freedoms when the time comes.”
As usual, I agree with Daigle (full disclosure, Cody is a good friend.) And personally, I am sick to death, as I wrote in “Start Acting Like It,” of our anger when things like losing marriage happen, yet we’re indifferent every other day of the year?
“[D]oes the majority of the gay community really want marriage equality? And if we do, are we going to start acting like it?”
So, one year after Prop 8, my question is this: Were you mad last year after election day? Are you mad today? 365 days in between, what did you do to support the gay marriage cause? Did you donate your time? Money? Did you email your state and federal representatives? Did you write your president? Did you talk to others about the importance of marriage?
What did you do?
Because here’s the deal.
We lost. And this one hurts a lot, because Maine had a gay marriage law that yesterday got repealed. It’s not like there was a bill and it got voted down in the state legislature. It got passed. And a governor who was against it, signed it. So, we lost big.
And we know who to blame. And who not to blame. Do not, do not blame the people of Maine. They were subject to outside forces beyond their control. And, listening to the debate in their Legislature on gay marriage, I think they are a good people who deserve better treatment than they got from the Church and from NOM.
So, blame Maggie Gallagher’s National Organization for Marriage, for starters. She, along with her Executive Director, Brian Brown, poured cash, and hate, and fear, and lies into Maine. As Brian wrote today,
“We are the single largest donor to Stand for Marriage Maine. We gave nearly $1.8 million, emptying our bank account because of the serious needs in Maine… Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Portland provided invaluable leadership…”
Which brings me to my next point.
Blame the Roman Catholic Church. Separation of church and state, while the law in this country, is not enforced. The tax-free status religious organizations get is a trade-off, that requires them to not get involved in politics. Yet, time and again we see them thumb their noses at the U.S. government, and throw their cash at anti-gay measures around the country. It’s illegal, and it’s time something was done about it. America needs to revoke the tax-free status of any religious organization that gets involved in politics beyond the limits of the law.
The Roman Catholic Church’s Portland diocese sunk over $550,000 into this battle, yet is closing its own churches for lack of money. Go figure.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) supported the Maine effort with between $49,000 (reported here) and $200,000 (reported here.) HRC claims to have “made more than $280,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions.” All told, while the $200,000 figure is more likely the effective number, one has to ask, if THE leading LGBT organization spent only $200,000 in Maine, what did they think they were going to get? Maine, like California one year ago, should have been all-or-nothing. This Rumsfeldian battle-on-the-cheap didn’t work in Iraq, it didn’t work in California, and it didn’t work in Maine. When are we going to put everything we have into one issue and make damned sure we win?
Then there’s the DNC – the Democratic National Committee, who sent a blast email campaign to voters in Maine yesterday, asking them to come vote, but conveniently left off asking them to vote “No” on repealing gay marriage. Yes, that’s right. THE Democratic organization, in a Democratic state, with a Democratic Governor, and a Democratic Legislature which voted for and passed and signed an historic gay marriage bill didn’t ask its own members to support it.
Aside from the fact that tactically it’s just stupid – have your elected representatives stick their necks out for gay marriage, which they did – then don’t ask voters to support their decision, leaving them vulnerable? Yes, the DNC is stupid, arrogant, and hypocritical. Same sex marriage opponent, and DNC chairman Tim Kaine, I’m talking to you.
Which is why we need to stop blindly giving the DNC cash.
Now. President Obama. What to say about our “fierce advocate in chief?” (By the way, last night David Gergen said gays have a right to be upset with Obama. That was nice to hear, coming from him.) Well, while Obama is against gay marriage, he supports states rights on the subject. (More on that in Part II, too.) This was a state initiative. This was a Democratic initiative. Obama could have lent his support to this, but he chose not to. (I don’t know how much I can blame him. He’s taken a beating on healthcare, and I do want his attention there.)
But Obama could have mentioned Maine (and Washington) at the HRC dinner he graciously attended (no, that was not sarcastic) the night before the National Equality March. He didn’t. He also didn’t actively oppose Prop 8, so while no one’s surprised, he definitely loses the title of “fierce advocate.” I still support him overall, because he’s doing a better job than anyone else could have in these tough times, but he’s not in our corner. Not now, not then, not ever.
So, as I tweeted last night, “If we lose Maine tonight, what are you going to do about it tomorrow?”
What are YOU going to do about it?
More in Part II.
Editorial note: Originally, this piece included the paragraph below, which I still stand by, based on information reportedly given to the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.
Along with the Human Rights Campaign, who swooped in to support the No On 1 campaign with a whopping – ready for this? $49,000. Holy Cow! How’d they scrounge up that much dough? Why, that’s just 14% of Joe Solmonese’s $338,400 salary. Yet, the emails I get from them make it sound like they really supported the effort there. Not with your donations, they didn’t.
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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) revived her call for a “national divorce” in a lengthy social media statement where she declares the assassination of Charlie Kirk has sparked a “spiritual revival building the kingdom for Christ.”
“There is nothing left to talk about with the left,” Greene’s missive begins. “They hate us.”
“They assassinated our nice guy who actually talked to them peacefully debating ideas,” she added, despite a lack of definitive evidence of the shooter’s motives or beliefs.
“Then millions on the left celebrated and made clear they want all of us dead,” she wrote, also without definitive evidence.
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After calling for a “national divorce,” Greene declared that the “country is too far gone and too far divided, and it’s no longer safe for any of us.”
Earlier this year, Greene was labeled “one of the most polarizing figures in American politics” by a Fox affiliate in Atlanta.
“What will come from Charlie Kirk being martyred is already happening,” the Georgia lawmaker continued. “It is a spiritual revival building the kingdom for Christ.”
After lashing out at an upcoming vote on legislation she claimed funds transgender policies, Greene declared, “Government is not [the] answer, God is. Turn your full faith and trust to our Almighty God and our Savior Jesus. Tighten your circle around your family and protect them at all times. I will pray for the left, but personally I want nothing to do with them.”
The Hill reported that at least one national poll found the idea of a national divorce “was overwhelmingly unpopular with the majority of Americans, though.”
The media outlet added that “dozens of people not directly linked to the assassination have faced backlash and, in some cases, lost their jobs over comments they have made about Kirk’s political beliefs following his death.”
As part of what he called an effort to promote “unity,” Vice President JD Vance on Monday said, “When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out. And hell, call their employer.”
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Image via Shutterstock
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was Vice President JD Vance’s guest on Monday’s edition of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” just days after the right-wing political commentator was assassinated. The suspected gunman’s motives and political beliefs remain unclear, but the vice president pinned the blame for Kirk’s murder on “left-wing extremism.”
“While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies,” Vance declared, “it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far-left.”
The vice president did not define “lunatics,” but statistics from the Cato Institute show that the vast majority of political violence comes from the far-right.
Guest-hosting for the late organizer and activist, Vice President Vance told viewers, “I wanted to zoom out and talk with Stephen [Miller] a little bit, and talk about all of the ways that we’re trying to figure out how to prevent this festering violence that you see on the far-left from becoming even more and more mainstream.”
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The vice president—who placed blame at least in part on the left for Kirk’s death—said, “we have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years, and I believe is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin’s bullet.”
“We’re gonna talk about how to dismantle that,” he continued, “and how to bring real unity, real unity that can only come when we tell the truth and everybody knows that they can speak their mind about the issues of the day without being cut down by a murderer’s gun.”
Miller, who is considered by many—including some highly respected conservatives—a skilled propagandist, on Friday spoke out against what he called left-wing violent extremism.
“I’ve not shared with anybody, but the last message that Charlie Kirk gave to me before he joined his Creator in heaven was, he said that we have to dismantle and take on the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence.”
“That was the last message that he sent me before that assassin stole him from all of us.”
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“And we are gonna do that,” Miller vowed. “Under President Trump’s leadership, I don’t care how—it could be a RICO charge, a conspiracy charge, conspiracy against the United States, insurrection—but we are going to do what it takes to dismantle the organizations and the entities that are fomenting riots, that are doxing, that are trying to inspire terrorism, and that are committing acts of wanton violence.”
“It has to stop,” he declared, “and my message is to all of the domestic terrorists in this country spreading this evil hate? You want us to live in fear? We will not live in fear, but you will live in exile. Because the power of law enforcement under President Trump’s leadership will be used to find you, will be used to take away your money, take away your power, and if you’ve broken the law, to take away your freedom.”
Stephen Miller: “The last message that Charlie Kirk gave to me before he joined his creator in heaven was he said that we have to dismantle and take on the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence. That was the last message that he sent me … we are… pic.twitter.com/j0Gumd9V5i
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 13, 2025
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Parents who homeschool their children are the largest demographic to delay or reject childhood vaccinations, followed by parents who are white and very religious, according to a new Washington Post-KFF poll. One in six parents now reject the vaccination schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The poll — the most detailed recent look at the childhood vaccination practices and opinions of American parents — shows that 1 in 6 parents have delayed or skipped some vaccines for their children, excluding for coronavirus or flu,” according to The Washington Post. For those two diseases , the compliance rate is far less.
Only about two out of five (41%) of parents vaccinated their children for flu last year. 52 percent did not. And just about 13 percent of children who were eligible received the coronavirus vaccine last year.
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Ninety-five percent of a community needs to be vaccinated for herd immunity to take over, but less than that — just 92.5% — of children have received the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR).
Nearly half (46%) of homeschooling parents skipped or delayed any number of vaccines, the study shows, placing them at the top of the list of those most likely to delay or not vaccinate. That same group of parents was most likely (33%) to delay or skip the MMR or polio vaccine.
White, very religious parents closely followed in both categories. 36% delayed or skipped any number of vaccines, and 23% of them delayed or skipped the MMR vaccine.
Republican parents were the next most likely group: 22% for any vaccine, and 12% for MMR. (12% of white parents also delayed or skipped the MMR vaccine for their children.)
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“Democrats and Asian parents are some of the least likely to skip or delay any vaccine for their children besides coronavirus or flu, with 8 percent and 5 percent doing so, respectively,” the Post noted.
Among parents who delay or skip vaccines, the overriding reasons include concerns about side effects (67%), lack of trust in vaccine safety (53%), disagreement with necessity of recommended vaccinations (51%), not wanting multiple shots at once (42%), and a belief they can keep their children healthy in other ways (34%).
With anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now at the helm of the CDC, “at least 4 in 10 parents say they don’t know enough to say whether” his claims about vaccines causing autism or chronic disease are true or false.
“More than half of Republican parents (54 percent) and 36 percent of parents overall say they trust Kennedy to provide reliable information about vaccines, and of those, 22 percent skipped or delayed a vaccine for their child. Several interviewed by The Post said they felt he was giving them a voice.”
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Image via Reuters
Trump Teases Threat to Defund NYC After Governor’s Endorsement for Mayor
Homeschooling, Religion and Politics Trump Science in Parents’ Vaccine Resistance
Vance Hosts Stephen Miller on Kirk’s Show to Preach ‘Real Unity’ — While Blaming the Left
Greene Says Kirk Killing Sparked ‘Spiritual Revival’ for Christ — Urges ‘National Divorce’
Greene Says Kirk Killing Sparked ‘Spiritual Revival’ for Christ — Urges ‘National Divorce’
Vance Hosts Stephen Miller on Kirk’s Show to Preach ‘Real Unity’ — While Blaming the Left
Homeschooling, Religion and Politics Trump Science in Parents’ Vaccine Resistance
Trump Teases Threat to Defund NYC After Governor’s Endorsement for Mayor
Death Penalty to Prayer: Nancy Mace’s Shifting Positions on Kirk’s Alleged Killer
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