Gay rights group fills campaign coffers

Question 1

Question 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot will read: ?Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation??

Supporters of the state’s new gay rights law hold a huge financial advantage over those trying to repeal it, according to reports filed with state elections officials Tuesday.

With less than a month before voters decide the new law’s fate on Nov. 8, supporters enter the final weeks of the campaign with more than $265,000 in the bank compared to about $20,000 for opponents.

Jesse Connolly of the pro-gay rights group Maine Won’t Discriminate, said the apparent fundraising gap signaled strong statewide support for the law.

“This is all about the people of Maine making a financial contribution to end discrimination once and for all,” Connolly said.

At issue on Nov. 8 is whether voters will repeal the law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in the areas of housing, employment, education, lodging and lending. The law, signed in March by Gov. John Baldacci, has been put on hold pending the results of the referendum.

Maine Won’t Discriminate raised nearly $395,000 between July 6 and Sept. 30, bringing its total donations this year to more than $475,000, according to documents filed with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices.

The Coalition for Marriage – a political action committee affiliated with the Christian Civic League of Maine – and the Maine Grassroots Coalition are the two major groups pushing the repeal effort.

Combined, both of those groups raised about $75,000 during the third quarter, bringing their total donations to more than $210,000 for the year.

Before the reports were filed, Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition expressed dismay about the size of his opponents’ campaign coffers.

“It concerns me, but what concerns me more is where this money is coming from,” Madore said, speculating that many donors were from outside the state.

“These laws are going to affect people who live in Maine.”

Connolly on Tuesday noted that 84 percent of his more than 3,000 donors were from Maine.

Money has not guaranteed success at the Maine polls, and campaign watchers note that the gay rights issue – particularly in an off-year election with no major candidates on the ballot – is one in which voter turnout can be just as crucial.

“The Christian Civic League has always been more about trying to rally its base than convince the general public,” said Jim Melcher, a political scientist at the University of Maine at Farmington.

This year, that rallying cry centers on opponents’ contention that the law will lead to same-sex marriage.

The law’s supporters insist it has nothing to do with marriage, pointing to wording that specifically states it does not sanction such unions, which are already prohibited under a separate state law.

Last week, a group of 46 Maine lawyers released an analysis backing up the law’s supporters.

November’s vote will mark the fourth time in 10 years Maine voters have considered a gay rights issue.

In 1995, voters soundly defeated an effort to repeal local gay rights ordinances. In 1998 and 2000, however, voters narrowly defeated attempts to protect gays from discrimination.

Maine is the only New England state that does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Maine Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, disability, religion, ancestry and national origin.

Although Question 1 is easily the highest profile question on the Nov. 8 ballot, the combined $685,000 raised thus far pales in comparison to recent referendum campaigns.

In 2003, supporters and opponents of a tribal casino in southern Maine raised about $10 million.

In 2004, more than $3 million was spent during the campaign to impose a 1 percent property tax cap in Maine.