Gay rights groups oppose language in referendum

Groups that support gay rights have sent a 12-page letter to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap outlining what they say is wrong with a proposed referendum question submitted last week by Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union, Equality Maine and the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders claim that the current language in the league’s proposed question would "take away every basic right that gay and lesbian Mainers have."

Those rights, according to GLAD, include the ability of same-sex couples to share health insurance and inherit from each other in addition to the laws Heath has said he wants to repeal — the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Maine Human Rights Act, funding for civil rights teams in public schools and the right for same-sex couples to adopt children.

"We may ultimately be forced to debate the wisdom, let alone humanity, of denying legal protections to same-sex couples and repealing the few humane protections that do exist," Mary L. Bonauto, civil rights project director for GLAD, said in a press release on April 11, the same day the letter was sent to the secretary of state. "If we must do this, we should show Maine’s voters the respect of letting them know, very explicitly, what’s at stake."

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