Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on
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Our Work Legislative Advocacy The Way Life Should Be: Marriage Equality in Maine

Legislative Advocacy

GLAD may be best known for its precedent-setting litigation in the courts, but as New England's foremost legal organization working on matters of lgbt civil rights and the rights of people with HIV, GLAD's unique legal expertise is indispensable to legislative efforts and other matters of public policy as well.

The Way Life Should Be: Marriage Equality in Maine

Maine family

Update, July 31, 2009: Anti-equality organizers have filed signatures with the Secretary of State.
Read a statement from No on 1/Protect Equality.

The support of all Mainers who believe in equality is crucial to protecting the hard-won right to marriage for all Maine citizens. To get involved in the campaign, visit No On 1/Protect Equality today.

Equality opponents in Maine have launched a campaign to subject marriage equality to a “people’s veto”. Opposition leaders have indicated the campaign’s aim is to put the question on the November 3 ballot, meaning they must gather 55,087 signatures and submit them to the Secretary of State by August 1. They have contracted with Schubert Flint Public Affairs group, the California based PR firm that lead the successful Prop 8 ballot initiative that stripped same-sex couples in California of the right to marry, to help them accomplish their goal.

But pro-equality advocates are organized and ready to fight to protect marriage rights for all Mainers. Maine Freedom to Marry is a unified campaign bringing together the field organization and mobilization skills of EqualityMaine, the legal expertise of GLAD, and the public outreach capacity of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. To spearhead the anti-referendum campaign, Maine Freedom to Marry has hired Jesse Connolly, who lead the successful 2005 “Maine Won’t Discriminate” campaign where a significant majority of Mainers voted to keep sexual orientation in the state’s non-discrimination policy.

Get involved.

Video: Why Marriage Matters

Protecting Our Children: Marriage Equality in Maine

Fairness and Respect: The Heart of Who We Are in Maine

Read more about the progress of marriage equality across New England.

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