At a rally held on Monday to oppose
passage of Question 1, Mike Heath described being gay as
“intrinsically harmful and evil.”
Heath, the former director of the Maine
Christian Civic League, was joined at the State House rally by Peter
LaBarbera of the Illinois-based group Americans for Truth about
Homosexuality and Paul Madore, a longtime opponent of gay rights.
Madore and Heath co-chair the No Special Rights PAC, a committee
formed to oppose passage of Question 1, which seeks to legalize
marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Maine.
“The truth about the homosexual
rights movement is hidden,” the Bangor
Daily News quoted Heath as telling a crowd of roughly 35
people. “The pro-family movement hides this fact for fear of being
labeled bigots.”
Madore told the crowd that if Question
1 passes, “you give up your rights to free association.”
LaBarbera accused the media of having
“the gay activists' back.”
“If there was a fair media, 75
percent to 80 percent of American society would be opposed to the gay
agenda,” he said.
After lawmakers approved a gay marriage
law in 2009, opponents repealed it at the ballot box.
David Farmer, communications director
for Mainers United for Marriage, the campaign working to approve
Question 1, said Madore and Heath “are good at saying outrageous
things.”