So... to my many friends and family that may or may not know, today is election day in Maine.
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I wish I didn't care - but you should know that almost all your gay friends and family do care - whether they tell you or not.
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You see, Maine is voting on gay marriage. And, similar to California, this isn't an esoteric question. You see, in Maine, all the rules were followed. A legislature voted to endorse gay marriage. A Catholic Governor signed it saying that equal rights meant equal rights.
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Then a rarely invoked "citizen's petition" occurred. Outside money and signature gathers got enough signatures to put this law to Maine voters to approve or disapprove. And, unlike interracial marriage, the rights of the minority are up to the majority to rule on.
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A ton of outside money has been dumped into the race on both sides.
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On the "we hate fags" side -The team behind the California Proposition that revoked the right to marriage was brought in by the Catholic Church (who have taken up secondary donations ONLY against this and - at the same time - closed 6 parishes for lack of funds; apparently hate of gays trumps love of God) and NOM - the National Organization for Marriage where Mormons now launder their campaign contributions (this will be overturned in an on-going court case; NOM / Mormons have lost 2 cases but keep appealing so that no one knows who is behind them until after this election).
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And so, once again everyone gets to vote to take away the rights of a minority - no more than 10% of the population. It doesn't seem fair to us, we don't vote if red-heads can get married or if Hispanics can get married. But according to the Department of Justice today marriage is "not a federal right". (By the by, so much for the Republican line that Radical Homos are running the Democratic Party - shit we can't buy a friend in the Demovratic Party - and we have tried.)
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This "not a federal right" argument would make a lot more sense if the federal government didn't base so many legal rights on marriage; pension, inheritance, quality of care, rights of visitation, rights of parentage to name but a few, right of family consolidation of foreigners- even the right not to testify against a spouse - they have tested this - and gay spouses have no legal right not to be forced to testify against a spouse in any case outside of Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Which shouldn't be a big thing, but this includes any civil action or discussions between you and your spouse -and using a private discussion between married people is just weird and wrong in this country which is sue happy.
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But I digress. Maine votes today on how much they hate us. Your gay friends are hoping that less than 49.9% of Mainers hate us so much they want to punish us for being born. It would seem a pretty low bar - but it's one we haven't passed yet.