The latest PPP polling shows an incredible turnaround from the results of the 2009 "people's veto" of the marriage equality law passed in 2009 by the Maine Legislature.
Registered voters now favor marriage equality by a margin of 13%, 54% - 41%, whereas in 2009 they rejected same-sex marriage by 6%, 47% - 53%, a swing of an amazing 19% in three years. Of course polls are not election results, and Maine Marriage Equality groups need to keep the pedal to the metal to insure victory for their referendum in November, but there is no doubt that this is a tremendous turnaround in public opinion.
... independents have gone from voting against gay marriage 52/46 three years ago to now supporting it by a 57/36 margin.
Ding!
Another Interesting Flip in Maine.
The Catholic Church
has announced a "tactical retreat" and will no longer actively campaign against same-sex marriage in Maine:
PORTLAND The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland will not actively campaign against a statewide referendum seeking to legalize same-sex marriage, but instead will focus on teaching parishioners about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the bishop announced Friday.
Ding! Ding!
In 2009, the Catholic Church spent vast sums of money railing against same-sex marriage at the same time that their ministries to the poor were being cut back and their churches were closing.
Perhaps they decided to take my essay from back then, I was hungry, you gave me hate, I was sick, you gave me lies, to heart. Perhaps they've realized they are throwing Christ's money after bad to no effect other than enriching the owners of radio and television stations. Perhaps they have come to peace with the fact that the gig is up.
However it came down, this is not good news for Maggie Gallagher. Which is good news for the rest of us.
And a Third About-Face. Could Delaware Be Next?
A dramatic conversion occurred on the rode to
Damascus Dover just last week. Face it, the last time you heard about Delaware was probably when a certain someone proclaimed "I am not a witch!"
But Delaware made it back into the news when, just a few days ago Governor Markell (who, as far as I know, is not a warlock, though he has never actually gone on record) proclaimed himself an advocate of marriage equality. And went further to state that, with regard to same-sex marriage in Delaware
I think it's inevitable.
Last year, Markell supported a civil unions bill, which the Delaware Legislature passed and which took effect on January 1st, 2012. But he had never before stated his support for marriage equality nor opined on its inevitability. That's impressive, but it doesn't mean he will be actively pushing for a same-sex marriage bill any time soon:
Markell said Friday that he supports gay marriage in Delaware, although he believes the state should focus for now on implementing a same-sex civil union law that took effect in January.
These are weasel words. It doesn't take a lot of 'focus' to implement a civil unions bill, after all (did the legislature even appropriate money for a lens?) But they are weasel words in the right direction: words that will allow pressure to build for the passage of marriage equality in Delaware led by the Governor just as it happened in New York, Washington State and Maryland.
After the November, 2012 ballot battles, Delaware is an obvious next target for marriage equality, especially if next-door Marylanders sustain their legislature's same-sex marriage law. Delaware is a blue state, with both a Governor who says he supports marriage equality and a Senator, Chris Coons, who most certainly is an advocate. A majority of its voters are likely to now support same-sex marriage (a poll done a year ago by PPP came in at just under a majority, 49%-48%). And in terms of campaigns, there aren't many other states where a successful effort can be mounted in 2013; Rhode Island seems moribund; Illinois seems premature; Hawaii is the only target I can think of and I'm not sure there is as yet any serious push in that direction.
If you would like to help Delaware make this happen sooner, say 2013, rather than later, consider a small donation to Delaware Right to Marry, led by Kossack Bill Humphrey, which has kicked off a campaign to ask
legislators and legislative candidates to commit to making marriage equality a priority in 2013.
Like FDR and Obama, the Governor of Delaware is probably going to require us to "make him do it", inevitability statements or no. Getting a groundswell of support is an important step in making that a reality.