AUGUSTA — The campaign to limit gay rights in Maine has seen less mud-slinging than similar campaigns in Colorado and other states.

But with only a week until the Nov. 7 referendum election on Question 1, both sides are turning up the rhetorical heat and engaging in more personal attacks. The tone is more shrill.

In a press release this week, Carolyn Cosby, leader of Concerned Maine Families, which put the anti-gay rights referendum on the ballot, called a television ad by Gov. Angus S. King urging defeat of the proposal “a lie.”

King cites the Maine tradition of local control as a good reason to vote against Question 1, which would repeal municipal gay rights ordinances and block future ordinances.

But Cosby and her allies call this position hypocrisy because of the approval for introduction last week of a gay rights bill that would come before the Legislature in 1996. A gay rights bill would remove local control by requiring all communities to observe civil rights for homosexuals.

In an open letter to the Maine congressional delegation, King and others that oppose the referendum, Cosby urges them to change their minds. With strong language, she warns of the ideas contained in the December 1994 report of the Governor’s Commission to Promote the Understanding of Diversity in Maine.

“The Diversity Commission Report has made it abundantly clear that a militant, radical, outrageous and extreme gay `wish list’ for Maine does indeed exist and is staged for implementation in Maine!” Cosby wrote.

On the “gay militant wish list for Maine” are aggressive affirmative action programs and hiring quotas for “anyone willing to say they are gay.” Cosby also predicts special block grant funding for businesses that claim to be gay-owned.

And she predicts “even forced indoctrination of the homosexual lifestyle is planned within the curriculum of our schools in direct violation to parental authority. Cleverly concealed wording will allow these benefits to be added to gays at any time after a statewide gay rights bill is passed!”

The report on understanding diversity addresses the needs of all minorities, not just homosexuals. As opponents of the referendum have told Cosby, the report has no force of law. It is only a series of recommendations that have lain dormant for almost a year.

For their part this week, the group fighting Question 1 attacked Cosby, Paul Madore and Lawrence Lockman, all leaders of the “Yes” side, for nonpayment of taxes.

In a 7-page press release, Maine Won’t Discriminate detailed the tax delinquency of Cosby, Madore and Lockman in figures obtained from county registries of deeds.

According to Maine Won’t Discriminate, the trio owes $62,000 in back taxes.

The group said Cosby owes $4,726 in property taxes to the city of Portland. It said that Cosby had incurred 11 property tax liens for late payment of taxes dating to 1983.

The group said Madore, leader of the Coalition to End Special Rights, owes $5,671 to the city of Lewiston for back property taxes. It said Madore had incurred 17 property tax liens dating to 1983.

Maine Won’t Discriminate said Lawrence Lockman of Seboeis Plantation, a leader of Concerned Maine Families, owes $51,600 in federal income tax for years between 1976 and 1984. Lockman is a well-known tax protester.

The reason the tax information is important, according to Mark Sullivan of Maine Won’t Discriminate, is: “If Question 1 passes, there will be countless lawsuits. Taxpayers are going to pay for this. The good, hard-working people of Maine who pay their taxes on time ought to know [about the tax records of Cosby, Madore and Lockman].”

“I think it’s entirely relevant,” said Sullivan.

But Kenneth P. Hayes, a political science professor at the University of Maine, disagreed.

“I wouldn’t consider that a relevant issue,” said Hayes, a former chairman of Maine Common Cause. “That’s their problem with their communities. It seems to me the media probably shouldn’t even cover this. It would be far more relevant if they were discussing their sexuality.”

Oliver Woshinsky, a political science professor at the University of Southern Maine, said, “Campaigns with emotion-laden issues always get worse and more dramatic toward the end of the campaign. It doesn’t surprise me there would be strong charges made by both sides.

“I’m impressed, frankly, by how calm the Maine campaign has been compared to other states that have decided this question.”

Cosby said of the tax charges: “It’s just dirty politics. They’re the people who keep saying we’ve got to focus on the issue. Well why don’t they do that?”

“We do have unpaid taxes,” Cosby said. “We’re doing our best to catch up on them.”

Cosby said she and her husband were set back financially by several lawsuits that tried to keep Question 1 off the ballot. She said she has a $20,000 legal debt from one of them.

“They’ve made this a personal attack,” Cosby said. “It has nothing to do with the campaign.”

Madore said he’d had trouble paying some property taxes because of the slow economy.

He said he owes less than claimed by Maine Won’t Discriminate.

“We’ve made several payments since then,” Madore said. “I find it remarkable they would use their resources to conduct a smear campaign like this.

“We need to focus on what this issue is all about. They’re obviously concerned about losing and they’re creating a diversion here.”