Thursday January 15, 1998
BOSTONIANS MOBILIZE TO HELP MAINE WITH TOUGH BALLOT BATTLE
by Loren King
Bay Windows staff
With the February 10 ballot referendum on Maine's gay rights law looming, a group of Boston gay men and lesbians have banded together to assist Maine activists in their campaign to beat back conservatives' attempt to repeal the legislation.
The local group, organized by Boston resident Gavin Hilgemeier, has contacted gay/lesbian night clubs all over New England and requested that the clubs host fund-raisers this month or simply give monetary donations to Maine Won't Discriminate, the political action group opposing repeal of the Law.
Maine Won't Discriminate (MWD) is trying to raise $500,000 before the February 10 referendum for its public awareness campaign.
Hilgemeier said most of the clubs he has contacted have agreed to host events with a portion of the proceeds going to MWD. In addition, a fund-raiser for MWD with Betty DeGeneres, Ellen's mother and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, takes place January 24 in Portland to raise money and focus attention on the state-wide referendum battle.
The referendum, the only question on the ballot in the state-wide special election, asks voters whether they want to repeal the so-called gay rights law passed by the Maine Legislature and signed by the governor in June, after a 20-year effort by proponents. (A "yes" vote means the voter wants the law repealed; a "no" vote seeks to keep the law. ) The law forbids discrimination passed [sic] on sexual orientation in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations. A religious, conservative group, the Maine Christian Civic League, collected the requisite number of signatures to force the referendum on the ballot. Implementation of the law has been suspended pending the outcome of the election.
With only a few weeks to the special election, and an ice storm in much of Maine threatening to further curtail the number of voters heading to the polls, both sides are actively raising money to get the word out to voters. "It's a huge effort for us," said Joe Cooper, a spokesman for MWD. "We are worried that [the Christian Civic League] will get more voters out, and some of our supporters will vote `yes' because [the ballot question] is confusing...The religious Right is hoping to confuse voters and muddy the waters. It is harder to educate people than it is to confuse them."
The Christian Civic League's campaign slogan is "Yes to Equal Rights."
Cooper said MWD is relying on hard-working volunteers in Maine as well as the help of supporters around New England like Hilgemeier. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has sent a field representative, Tracy Conaty, to Maine to assist MWD and the Human Rights Campaign is assisting with fundraising, said Cooper.
But with the election just a few weeks away and most Maine residents worried about the weather that has paralyzed much of the state, MWD faces the task of educating voters who have other issues on their minds, said Anna Lidman, fund-raiser for MWD. "A lot of our strategy is identifying our voters, educating them and getting them to the polls. That means paying for mail, paying for phones, paying for TV ads," she said. "A lot of Maine voters think they have already voted on this."
Lidman said MWD has raised about $200,000 but needs another $300,000 before election day.
Cooper said the latest poll showed 66 percent of Maine voters in favor of keeping the gay rights law. However, noted Cooper, that does not indicate how many voters will go to the polls on February 10, particularly if the ice storm persists (many Mainers remain without electricity due to the storm) and whether the voter understands that a "no" vote is required to keep the law.
The campaign between the two sides heated up earlier this month when MWD obtained and released to reporters an internal fundraising memo issued by the Christian Civic League that conflicted with what league officials had said publicly about their challenge to the law.
In the private, three-page fundraising memo, league executive director and memo author Michael Heath wrote: "We believe that it IS appropriate to discriminate against people if they are wrong. We believe that this is especially true for the small businessman and landlord. They should be afforded the freedom to make decisions for themselves, unless the cumulative effect of their decisions causes widespread social problems for people. IF a Maine businessman or landlord wants to discriminate against a person because of their sexual orientation, they should be able to do so...If Jesus were a landlord or employer, he would tell the truth...A modern, unrepentant American homosexual would not want to work for, or rent from, Jesus."
The memo, which urged members to contribute $10 to the campaign, was seized upon by Maine reporters and columnists, some of whom indicated Heath's tactics may have backfired with citizens.
"And now, in a message that grows more bizarre with each turn of the page, Heath brazenly declares open season on homosexuals - assuring the timid that if Jesus himself were alive today, he'd be leading the charge," wrote Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz on January 9. "...[H]eath, Maine's self-appointed spiritual savior, tells us whom to judge, how to punish and, in a startling display of ignorance and arrogance, what Jesus would do to all his wretched tenant sinners if it weren't forbidden by Maine law."
Karen Geraghty, MWD campaign manager, said the league's philosophy flies in the face of individual rights. "I think it is a little arrogant that a small group of special interests believe they can pick and choose who gets to have liberty in this state," said Geraghty. "They want the right to discriminate, and they want the right to choose who it is legal to discriminate against...This ballot question is the Christian Civic League saying that their opinions take priority over the individual freedoms of Maine citizens."
Hilgemeier said he was spurred to help MWD after reading about the referendum battle in the papers. "Maine is our neighbor...I want to let people know they can send money, or call friends and relatives in Maine and tell them, `If you want me to come visit you, get out and vote.' The religious Right will try this in other places if they are successful [in Maine]," he said.