Maine Gay Marriage Law Repeal Effort

According to the 09 July, 2009 issue of the Bangor Daily News, the Stand for Marriage Maine coalition has gathered enough signatures to place the vote to repeal the Maine gay marriage law on the ballot. The necessary 55,087 signatures were gathered in a month and the coalition still has several more weeks to gather additional signatures.

Once the signatures are submitted and verified the law which is scheduled to go into affect on 12 September will be suspended pending the outcome of the vote. Supporters of the gay marriage law state that they fully expected the measure to end up the November ballot when it was passed by the state legislature. The issue should be hotly contested and increase voter turn out in an off year election.

In my opinion, this is a matter that is not worth the fight by either side. The institution of marriage has been basically destroyed by the government for years now. With no fault divorces, a welfare system that rewards single parent families, and marriage tax penalties, it is no wonder that the divorce rate in this country is so high. If marriage is not of extreme importance due to your religion or moral standings, it does not make logical sense to get married anymore. I do not think this is good for our society but I do think it is where we are at. At this point, I would rather see marriage become a personal or religious institution and have the government get out of it all together.