March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Unhappy relationship

Leaders of Concerned Maine Families, the group that has produced a referendum question that would limit certain rights to established classes of people, have found themselves uncomfortable with the company they keep. Their unease says more about their referendum question than they would like.

The question would limit the protected class status to groups currently listed in the Maine Human Rights Act, which does not include sexual orientation. Though it doesn’t say so, the question is aimed against homosexuals and lesbians, who have petitioned for listing to join the other groups, defined in terms of race, religion and sex. CMF has insisted that its referendum question is not an invitation for gay-bashing, but its allies have demonstrated that, intentionally or not, this is precisely what it does.

Lawrence Lockman, CMF’s vice chairman and press secretary, has singled out a group called Coalition to End Special Rights, which supports CMF’s referendum question. The coalition’s leaders reportedly would not sign CMF’s statement of principles, which demands that supporters run a civil and dignified campaign. Mr. Lockman suggests the coalition is a front group for out-of-state “Big Right” backers, people who for religious or other reasons want to deny homosexuals full participation in the political process.

Referendums that have specifically targeted homosexuals for exclusion from civil-rights laws have been struck down all over the country. The CMF law, artfully written by Washington lawyer Bruce Fein, sidesteps this problem by being nondiscriminatory: it denies all petitioners. But groups such as the Coalition to End Special Rights demonstrate just how thin the hope is that it is possible to have a debate about limiting opportunity for homosexuals without inciting anti-homosexual sentiment and even hatred. Those emotions will not cease with the November ballot, and passage of the referendum would give these groups greater license to foment hate.

Whatever CMF’s intentions with its referendum question, the results are predictable and ugly. No one should be surprised when a campaign that seeks to deny rights to a particular group prompts disgust toward that group. CMF chose its friends when it chose the heart of its message.


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