The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) on Thursday pledged to work against a proposed referendum that
would legalize gay marriage in Maine.
Shortly after supporters in Maine
announced they would return to the ballot box this November, NOM, the
nation's most vociferous opponent of the institution, pledged to work
against the effort.
“NOM intends to vigorously fight this
attempt by same-sex marriage advocates to impose gay marriage in
Maine,” NOM President Brian Brown said in a statement. “Maine
voters rejected gay marriage barely more than two years ago. What
part of 'no' don't gay marriage advocates understand?”
Lawmakers in 2009 approved a marriage
equality law, but opponents narrowly (53%) repealed it with a
“people's veto” at the ballot box, known as Question 1. NOM
spend $2 million on passage of Question 1, according to the group.
Advocates in Maine had already
collected nearly twice the number of signatures needed to put the
question on the ballot, but held back announcing their plans until
Thursday.
In announcing their decision to move
forward, backers also released a new poll showing that a majority
(54%) of Mainers say gay marriage should be legal. Forty-two percent
of respondents oppose the institution and 4 percent said they were
unsure.
“The people of Maine are not in favor
of redefining marriage, as we showed in 2009,” Brown added. Gay
advocates are fooling themselves when they say things have changed.
Voters still understand that marriage is about more than the desires
of adults. They still understand that children need both a mother
and father. They understand that same-sex marriage has real
consequences for people of faith, small businesses, churches and
religious organizations. And they understand that marriage is too
important a social institution to be kicked to the curb to satisfy
the political demands of a small but powerful and vocal special
interest group. We are completely confident that Mainers will oppose
this attempt, just as they rejected gay marriage in 2009.”