Catholic officials have launched a fresh initiative to influence secular law according to the religious teachings of the Catholic Church, with marriage equality firmly in their sites.
Church officials in Maine, the fifth and most recent state to offer marriage equality to gay and lesbian families, seek to bring those families’ rights to a popular vote, in hopes of seeing marriage equality repealed, as happened in California last year when, after a bruising and extremely expensive campaign to rescind family rights for gays and lesbians, voters narrowly passed Proposition 8.
An Associated Press story from May 10 quoted Maine’s Secretary of State, Matthew Dunlap, as saying, "The wheels are turning," with marriage foes planning to collect signatures toward putting family rights on the ballot.
If enough signatures are gathered, the article said, the petition will go to election officials--and it won’t be necessary for voters to weight in before marriage equality is suspended in Maine: as soon as the petition is in the hands of election officials, gay and lesbian families will lose the right to proceed with their legal weddings.
That may mean that marriage equality in Maine, set to begin in September, is stymied before, or just as, it takes effect.
A popular vote on the rights of gay and lesbian families could follow as soon as November of this year, the article said.
If not, the vote could take place in mid-2010.
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