ORONO – A Portland lawyer involved in the controversial same-sex marriage case in Massachusetts said Wednesday that the issue wasn’t one that was going to go away anytime in the future.

Encouraging those in attendance to get involved in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender – or GLBT – awareness, Mary Bonauto spoke to about 25 University of Maine students and staff during a brown bag lunch lecture.

Bonauto, director of the Civil Rights Project at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD, a Boston organization, was the lead counsel in the controversial Massachusetts case that deemed prohibiting civil marriage for same-sex couples was unconstitutional.

Part of Pride Week at UM, Bonauto’s lecture was titled “The Future of Marriage Equality in New England: Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine.” The event was sponsored by the UM Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program.

“I think it’s important to be more educated about the issues so you know what’s really at stake,” Bonauto said. Same-sex marriage has become a hot topic in recent months nationwide, but particularly in New England.

“I believe people are fair. They just need more information,” Bonauto said after the program. “I want people to see how same-sex families are being harmed by not being protected by these rights.”

The rights to which Bonauto was referring are those that heterosexual couples are granted through marriage, such as medical benefits, Social Security, and parental rights of children.

“I hate to say this, but one of the benefits of marriage is actually divorce,” she said. When a gay couple separates, there is no orderly way of dividing property or deciding custody rights, Bonauto said.

“Marriage should be available to all of us because it’s just such great protection for families,” she said.

In addition, she spoke about the need to have and enforce nondiscrimination laws in the workplace and at school.

“I still hear how difficult it is to be a young GLBT person in the state of Maine,” Bonauto said.

Bonauto lives in Portland with her partner of 17 years and their twin daughters.