Nothing tests a belief like experience, a chance to find out firsthand whether certainties and fears match reality. With this in mind, the Maine SpeakOut Project reasonably asks the members of local organizations to hear about the experiences of gays and lesbians before judging them.

This is a useful and timely request, given the likely referendum question on gay rights this winter and the expected decision on same-sex marriages in Hawaii. Questions about sexuality usually elicit strong responses, especially when they concern public policy. The SpeakOut Project, begun two years ago when another referendum question asked Maine to bar any further additions to the state’s human-rights law, offers personal experience and general information about gays and lesbians as a way to educate and move the debate away from the typical trading of accusations.

Maine voters defeated the 1995 measure, and the Legislature last session approved adding the phrase “sexual orientation” to categories protected in the areas of public accommodation, housing, credit and employment. The Christian Civic League, which has fought this proposal for years, apparently has gathered enough signatures to hold a public vote on the issue, to be scheduled for sometime between December and April.

The conclusion that SpeakOut’s members want listeners to draw is clear, but the organization does not exist to tell people how to vote. Instead, its members believe strongly that if the general public can hear their stories and have questions about homosexuality answered, everyone will benefit. SpeakOut is eager to talk to local groups interested in having questions answered about gay lives (to set up a time with SpeakOut volunteers, call 879-0480 or 827-3609). A chamber music fund-raiser for the Penobscot chapter is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at the home of state Sen. Mary Cathcart in Orono.

Before the heat of the campaign divides the state, SpeakOut gives residents a chance to consider the lives they will vote on. It offers an opportunity for experience that could help in the voting booth.