Gay rights supporters in Maine gained little solace Wednesday from a religious conservative group’s defense of its suggestion that Hurricane Katrina’s landfall might have purposefully coincided with a gay pride celebration in New Orleans.

“The view that such events are caused by God is a matter of opinion – faith if you will – and are not capable of proof,” Michael Heath, the executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, wrote in Wednesday’s edition of the group’s online newsletter. “Every man must decide for himself whether or not Hurricane Katrina brought the wrath of God down on New Orleans.

“So we are not blaming the homosexuals for the disaster,” continued Heath, whose group is spearheading the “people’s veto” campaign aimed at repealing Maine’s new gay rights law at the Nov. 8 referendum.

The linkage of Katrina and gay rights sparked outrage among defenders of the new Maine law, which extends the state’s anti-discrimination laws to homosexuals in the area of housing, employment, education, lodging and lending.

Jesse Connolly, spokesman for Maine Won’t Discriminate, a group fighting the repeal effort, said Heath’s explanation was just as bad as the original post.

“The larger issue here is the Christian Civic League is using one of the nation’s worst natural disasters to score cheap political points,” Connolly said, echoing similar comments he made Tuesday to the Bangor Daily News. “It is truly unfortunate how low he has stooped to churn up support from his base.”

Heath’s original post read: “By an odd coincidence – and it was perhaps no more than a coincidence – an enormous gay rights celebration was scheduled for New Orleans just as the worst natural disaster ever to strike our nation was venting its full fury on that helpless city.”

Heath has been no stranger to controversy while at the helm of the Christian Civic League. In March of last year, the league’s board of directors suspended him for 30 days for using the online newsletter to solicit “tips, rumors, speculation and facts” about the sexual orientation of state lawmakers.

Heath later apologized for the effort, which the league’s board determined to be “sinful gossip.”

The row over this week’s comments on Katrina marks the latest skirmish in what pundits predict will be a divisive campaign over the new law, which has been put on hold pending the outcome of the referendum.

Supporters say the law, signed in March by Gov. John Baldacci, simply extends basic civil rights protections to gays and lesbians. Opponents contend it is designed to pave the way for gay marriage.

The Nov. 8 referendum will mark the fourth time in 10 years Maine voters have considered the issue. During that time they have been unpredictable.

In 1995, they defeated an attempt to prohibit local governments from enacting gay rights ordinances. In 1998 and 2000, however, voters narrowly rejected attempts to protect homosexuals from discrimination.