Maine's social conservatives lack two essential things: tenacity and backbone.

An initiative campaign to repeal Maine's gay rights law and put in place roadblocks to gay marriages and adoptions is being abandoned, leaders of the campaign said Thursday.

"We're pulling the plug," said Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine. Heath said the evangelical group failed to attract voter, volunteer and financial support it needed to continue its campaign.

The group collected only a third of the 15,000 voters' signatures it had set as a goal for primary election day June 10, said Heath. He added said that potential volunteers "don't want to be aligned with bigotry and homophobia and hatred," tags their opponents had applied to the initiative backers.

And why on earth would we do that?!

The anti-gay, time warped Civic Christian League of Maine must have shat:

The Gay Men's Chorus sang the national anthem to start the 2008 session of the Maine legislature on Wednesday. It is the first time, one lawmaker said, that a gay group has sung the anthem at the start of any legislature in the country.

No word on whether the anthem had a disco beat.

In a matter of hours New Hampshire will allow legal civil unions for their queer citizens. It's a jump the left, so you know some folk are going to wish for a step to the right. That's why The Civic Christian League of Maine took this historic development to release the following statement:

With New Hampshire's enactment of its homosexual civil unions law, Maine becomes one of only two remaining New England states to not formally allow this deviant behavior.

The Christian Civic League of Maine supports the Biblical precept that all sex outside of traditional marriage, including homosexual behavior, is sin. The celebration of this sin as seen in the events of January 1st in New Hampshire is wrong.

As it has for over 110 years, the League will continue to oppose homosexual civil unions, and preserve marriage in Maine as between one man and one woman only, so help us God.

Alright, the concept of homosexuality has existed since 1869, when novelist Karl-Maria Kertbeny used the term in an anonymous German pamphlet. The gay rights movement didn't get off the ground until about a century later. We can't help but wonder, then, how The Christian Civic League of Maine has been fighting civil unions since 1897. It's especially confusing because the first civil union laws went in effect in Denmark in 1989, way less than 110 years ago.

Regardless of their dubious historical understanding, the CCLM certainly know how to rain on a parade.

• John Aravosis chats with CNN's resident tool Rick Sanchez about Larry Craig. Moral of the story: Craig's coincidence defies reality. Meanwhile Aravosis wrote this piece about ENDA. A reader suggested we add him to our list of 20 Most Frightful Anti-Gay Activists…

• GLAAD gets into the news business.

• Queer Iraqi situation worse than imagined:

Up to 25 gay men will next month have to ‘take their chances’ in Iraq where religious militia regularly seek out gays and execute them. Two ‘safe houses’ for gays will be forced to close at the end month – due to lack of cash, it was learned last night.

Make potentially life saving donation here. Or continue being apathetic. It's up to you.

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Larry Craig's downfall and ethics investigation has lent itself to many a headline over the past few weeks.

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Maine's 'mos celebrated today after the state's high court ruled that gays have the right to adopt guppies. The case began back in 2001 when two children were taken from their parents and handed over to a lesbian couple, attorney Ann Courtney and Marilyn Kirby, a counselor.

The ladies loved the kids so much, they filed adoption papers. A court refused their request, a refusal the women appealed. After months of battle, the a judge ruled today that it's in all childrens' best interest to grant queer couples adoption rights:

A joint adoption assures that in the event of either adoptive parent’s death, the children’s continued relationship with the surviving parent is fixed and certain.

A joint adoption also enables the children to be eligible for a variety of public and private benefits… Most importantly, a joint adoption affords the adopted children the love, nurturing, and support of not one, but two parents.

It also means the kids get twice the adults to resent during their teenage years. Hooray!

Are you into admitted murderers? Well, you're in luck, because Michael L. Woodbury's looking for love!

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• We’re gay enough to be excited about tomorrow night’s season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. But after seeing pro dancer John Robert’s picture on the official site, we’re a little surprised his bio refers to a “wife.” [Dancing with the Stars Official Site]

• A British Muslim leader is calling gays and same-sex marriage “harmful.” We think prejudiced words like that are much more dangerous. [BBC]

• Poet Tory Dent passed away from AIDS-related complications in NYC. RIP. [Newsday]

• Motorola's new iRadio sounds pretty cool. We’ll just have to get one. [AP]

• Maine’s (New Englanders so love The Gays) new law outlaws any sort of discrimination when it comes to sexual orientation. Sounds like common sense to us, but only a few states have this sort of thing on the books. [Morning Sentinel]

• Three out politicians were elected in Ohio last night. We thought that only happens in San Francisco.

• Texans approved a ban on gay marriage yesterday and in Maine the voters upheld a law giving protection from discrimination to homosexuals. We are thinking a fall foliage trip to Maine is in order.

• Bradford’s hometown of Baltimore needs a makeover. Somebody call Simon Doonan stat!

• London Terrace Towers in Chelsea has some new rules: "No one may touch or fondle [themselves or] another person in any part of the Pool or the Health Club facility.” Famous residents Annie Leibovitz and Debbie Harry are probably happy with the new policy. Matthew has yet to comment. Via Gawker.

• Sharon Osbourne says Madonna looks like an old hooker. She would know. Her daughter looks like a fat hooker.

• Baylor University treats its queer alumni the same way it treats its faggy Starbucks coffee cups. They get rid of them.

• The fabulous Sponge Bob had his own movie last year. Now another homo-friendly animated series gets the feature length treatment. Get ready for Queer Duck: The Movie!

• Here!TV Is now podcasting. It's gay programming for your ears.

• Reacting to New Hampshire's brushing off of civil unions yesterday, Rep. Tony Soltani, talks dirty to us: "Society has to be prepared to agree to accept something before we shove it down their throat."

• Texas and Maine voters go into their respective polling booths for a tug at the lever. This is a chance for you queers to take a step backward or a step forward. Yeah, that's right; think of it as a little dance.