Source: Kennebec Journal-Morning Sentinel, Portland Press Herald
AUGUSTA -- An anti-gay activist in Maine has abandoned his efforts to put an wide-ranging referendum on the ballot that would have, if passed, invalidated most of the state's gay-rights laws and prevented any future safeguards for gays and lesbians.

Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League said in an e-mail to supporters that his group lacks money and volunteers to pursue a referendum in November 2009.

The league would have had to submit more than 55,000 signatures by next January to place its proposal on the statewide ballot in November 2009, but Heath, the organization's executive director, estimates that the group has collected only about 5,000 of the 15,000 signatures it hoped to have by now, Portland Press Herald reports.

Wednesday's decision, which was made public Thursday, came about two months after the league announced its omnibus measure that it hoped to place on the ballot, and less than one month after the state issued petitions to the league on May 21, Kennebec Journal reports.

In addition to repealing a state law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, the referendum would have barred unmarried couples from adopting children, dropped funding for state civil-rights teams and prohibited the state from recognizing same-sex marriages or civil unions.

Supporters say the civil rights teams fight bullying in Maine schools. Heath argues that the teams persuade teenagers to accept homosexuality.

Thursday's e-mail to supporters from Heath said the league dropped the drive because it has "neither enough funds nor enough volunteer support to continue the effort."

Equality Maine, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians, sent volunteers to 35 polling places in eight counties on during the Maine primary on June 10 to explain its side of the issue to voters, Kennebec Journal reports.

Betsy Smith, that group's executive director, credited those efforts with dampening the league's signature gathering.

"What June 10 showed all of us is that there was a lot of support for our side," Smith said. She told Kennebec Journal that Equality Maine's decision to make its case to voters at the polls "made a difference in minimizing the number of signatures they collected."

The two sides cast the failed effort in dramatically different terms. Heath described it Thursday as a drive to preserve "a traditional marriage culture." Smith condemned it as a "broad attack" on basic rights for gays, lesbian and their children.

The 2005 gay-rights law that the league had hoped to repeal added "sexual orientation" to the Maine Human Rights Act, which also prohibits discrimination based on age, race, religion and other factors.

The gay-rights law survived an earlier challenge at the polls when voters upheld it in 2005 by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent.

Maine already has a law on the books that effectively prohibits same-sex marriage by defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Maine does not allow civil unions for gays and lesbians. Such unions are legal in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont.

One safeguard that the league's referendum did not try to undo is the state's domestic-partner registry, which became effective in 2004, Kenebec Journal reports.

The registry gives registered partners "a legal status similar to that of a married person with respect to matters of probate, guardianships, conservatorships, inheritance, protection from abuse, and related matters," according to a Web site run by the state Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the registry.

Full article: Group drops anti-gay effort | Kennebec Journal
Christian Civic League ends repeal effort | Portland Press Herald