Last night, voters in Maine were narrowly in favor of repealing a law permitting same-sex couples to marry.
Gay marriage has been defeated in all 31 states where it has been brought to a ballot measure. Every. Single. One. Including Texas.
And maybe it's not about hate. Maybe it's just about denying someone the right to marry whom they want, the old box-turtle defense - which, wait, isn't any better than hate.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci said that gay marriage will be approved some day by the state's voters, saying that it might not come as soon as supporters want, "But we're going to get there because that's the future."
But does it have to be? Truthfully, I do not want the government's mitts on my marriage. A marriage ceremony is a religious rite, and should be up to individual religious bodies to determine their comfort level when it comes to who they perform marriage ceremonies for. There should be no state-sponsored marriage - for anyone.
What should follow under the government's purvey? Civil unions, which should address the business part of a marriage - the part that needs to file taxes, draw up wills and apply for mortgages. And since the government doesn't need to set rules about who can enter into business together - other then that they're both consenting adults - why should it limit who can enter into a civil union to satisfy federal and state legal requirements?
Already, the disparity from state to state in regards to same-sex marriage has caused a legal morass. In many states, couples that ran to get married in other states come home to find out that nothing's really changed. Later, perhaps things don't work out (just like it happens sometimes in heterosexual relationships), and they want a divorce.
The only problem? Their home state doesn't recognize their marriage, and the state they married in has residency requirements associated with divorcing.
But maybe the issue will be addressed by the Supreme Court in the next few years. And maybe the state with the Senator whose staff worries that gay marriage will open up all manner of box turtle marriages will lead the way, because just last month a Texas judge ruled that two men married in another state can get divorced, and furthermore, the state's gay marriage ban is unconstitutional.
