Standing on the Side of Love

York, Maine - Tis the season to go leaf-peeping in New England. This year I decided to combine my annual fall outing with some political activism.

This past May, the state of Maine enacted legislation giving same-sex couples the right to marry (hooray). Now, there is a referendum on the ballot to take that right away (boo). Polls are showing that the vote is going to be really close, with 48% supporting marriage equality and 48% supporting the elimination of these rights.

I drove up to Maine with a group of friends from my church to canvass Maine voters. Just so you know, canvassing does not mean that we are trying to convince people to change their minds (which is probably a lost cause). Rather, we were trying to locate the supporters of gay marriage and make sure they are planning to vote on this important issue. Specifically, we were encouraging them to vote early (as everybody is allowed to do in Maine), so that Maine Equality could focus their resources on other undecided voters.

Although it was a gray day, Maine was beautiful in all of its multi-colored fall-foliage glory. The surf was up at York beach, and the surfers were out catching the waves. We spent a great afternoon driving around this lovely beach town talking to the good folks of Maine. "Do you support gay marriage?" I asked one resident. "I support marriage for people who are love," he responded. Amen, brother.

It was heartening to see that the vast majority of folks that we talked to planned to vote No on 1 - but that is to be expected in this liberal county. Maine Equality faces a greater challenge in other parts of the state (which is why it's so important to get as many Yorkers as possible to get out and vote!) See also the account posted by my friend and colleague, Susan Leslie, who was out canvassing with her husband and son.

I had the honor of driving up and canvassing with my friend, Marcia Hams, who also attends my church. She and her wife, Susan Shephard, were the first same-sex couple to get married in Massachusetts in 2004, which means they were the first in the country! Marcia shared this video, which was made by her son, who gives his perspective on why we should not be allowed to vote to take away people's rights.