Tolerance or special rights? Homosexual or heterosexual? An agenda of liberal or conservative persuasion? Whatever the issue, or the angle, the referendum known statewide as Question 1 certainly captured Maine’s and possibly the nation’s attention in 1995.

Question 1, shot down by voters in the Nov. 7 election, sought to limit Maine communities from enacting laws protecting the civil rights of homosexuals and, in effect, nullifying civil rights laws already in effect. The divisive issue, debated across dinner tables, at lunch counters and in media outlets, seemed to strike at the state’s collective soul.

Bangor Daily News readers, in an unscientific poll, picked the defeat of Question 1 as Maine’s top news story for 1995. With 611 points, the story easily outdistanced other contenders.

The rest of Maine’s top 10 stories, as picked by NEWS readers, were:

2. The death of former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, 516 points.

3. The November special session of the Legislature that cut $25 million out of state government, 448 points.

4. The celebration in Bangor of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, 399 points.

5. The near-fatal attack on state Trooper Vicki Gardner as she arrested Steven Fortin along Interstate 95, 392 points. Fortin has since pleaded guilty to a battery of charges, was sentenced to prison and faces trial in New Jersey on unrelated murder charges.

6. The summer drought that roasted, toasted and burned some areas of Maine to a crisp, 357 points.

7. The suicide of Lewiston teen Scott Croteau, 283 points.

8. Maine fisheries woes, 281 points.

9. Mainers’ approving mandatory seat belt use and the dropped recount effort by the United Bikers of Maine, 273 points.

10. The magnet school opening in Limestone, 259 points (tie).

10. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard escapes closure list, 259 points (tie).

Scoring for the balloting was done using a declining 10-point scale with points added for votes received. The NEWS received 110 ballots.

Shawn Walsh’s one-year suspension without pay for his indiscretions directing the University of Maine hockey program came too late to be reflected in the polling.

In contrast, Maine’s newspaper editors and news directors from radio and television selected the following top 10 statewide stories for 1995 for The Associated Press.

1. Defeat of Question 1.

2. Death of Sen. Smith.

3. The Legislature’s repeal of auto emissions testing (received 203 points in NEWS balloting).

4. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard avoiding closure.

5. The Croteau tragedy.

6. The Tonia Kigas murder trial in Bangor (received 234 points in NEWS balloting).

7. The sale of Bath Iron Works to General Dynamics (received four points in NEWS balloting) (tie).

7. The Legislature’s $45 million plan to reduce state government (tie).

9. Maine native Travis Roy’s injury while playing hockey for Boston University. Roy is paralyzed (received eight points in NEWS balloting).

10. Maine Yankee repairs (received 214 points in NEWS balloting).

NEWS readers had strong reasons for picking Question 1 as Maine’s biggest story.

“I think it was the top story of the year because the defeat was by a much wider margin than was anticipated by people involved in the campaign and people that watch these campaigns across the country,” said Judy Harrison of Bangor.

Audra Donovan, a senior at Ashland Community High School, agreed.

“It was really important. It was like as Maine goes, so goes the country,” she said. “The nation was watching it.”

The Rev. Mark Worth, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellsworth and the Castine Universalist Church, said Question 1’s defeat carried an important message.

“By and large, it showed the people of Maine decided to support the idea of equal rights,” he said. “The people of Maine showed their fairness.”

Sen. Smith, who died May 30 at her Skowhegan home, left an enduring legacy.

“She was an illustrious person and reflected positively on Maine. People revered and admired her,” said Georgia Hunt of Cushing. “When she passed, she was remembered with loving, kindly thoughts.”

“I thought of her as a kind, caring person. She was an honest woman. When she stood up to [Senate colleague] Joe McCarthy [in her famous “Declaration of Conscience: speech], she kind of paved the way for women to get into politics or anything else they wanted to,” said CeCe Nadeau of Enfield. “For me, there was no other choice.”

“I never had the pleasure of meeting this intelligent lady. She served her country well and with dignity,” Cynthia Adams of Perry wrote on her ballot.

In one instance, it was a holiday message from Maine’s political institution that captured her commitment to the people she served.

“It was in the 1970s and my husband was in Vietnam. She had the time to send me a Christmas card and a letter with her feelings toward the situation there,” said Laurel Bailey of Grand Lake Stream. “I was thankful for that.”

Regarding the November budget-cutting session, some readers reluctantly understood the need to cut $25 million from state government, others worried how it might affect them.

“It was important. It’s hurting the schools to cut it that much. Hurting all the schools,” said Gerald Jackins of Houlton. “But they had to do it, I guess.”

East Orland resident Mary Alice Jellison, who works at the Bangor Mental Health Institute, had an idea who would take the brunt of the budget cuts.

“It’s the front-line workers, not the people who get the huge raises and make the decisions, who will get cut,” she said. “It’s another hit for the peons that have to do the real work.”

Support for the Bangor commemoration in August of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, highlighted by a parade marshaled by retired Gen. William Westmoreland, covered a wide spectrum.

For Mary Body, whose husband and son marched in the parade, watching the parade was a cathartic event.

“I grew up and went to high school in the 1970s. For me, the parade kind of gave me some closure or validity to the anti-government and anti-military feeling I grew up with,” she said. “Seeing all the people watching the parade, to all the men who fought during it and the people from Europe who came to thank us, it was very moving to me.”

“Having been there, it was interesting to see the whole thing,” said Navy veteran Raymond Hanscom of Machias who served in the western Pacific during World War II, part of the so-called Bangor Victory Platoon.

“From a child’s viewpoint to those who were victorious, we were all looking back on something that was important,” said Lorraine R. Stearns of Hampden.

The attack on Trooper Gardner captured Eastport resident Kendrick P. Mitchell’s attention.

“It was just a complete lack of respect for law enforcement and it showed the perils and danger they face every day,” he said. “It was a shock that something like that could happen here. It was a scary sequence of events.”

Although it finished eighth in NEWS balloting, Nancy Oden, a well-known environmentalist from Jonesboro, had a number of reasons why woes within Maine fisheries should have been the state’s top story.

“One, it is destroying the livelihood of the people here. Two, there is little interest in big business in bringing back the fisheries, because of aquaculture, and big business can corner the market. Three, there’s no interest among large blueberry and cranberry growers to slow down the use of pesticides. They’re poisoning the waters, the fish are dying and people are out of work,” she said. “All big business sees is nothing but money in front of their eyes.”