A day after residents of Portland, Maine, celebrated Pride, a new poll shows that majority of people in the Pine Tree State support an upcoming ballot initiative to legalize same-sex marriage.
Conducted by MassINC Polling Group, the survey shows that 55% of the 506 Maine voters interviewed favored the measure, while only36% were opposed to it.
Mainers United for Marriage‘s Matt McTighe says the results are consistent with the sea change we’re seeing nationwide: “In the past two years, we’ve had more than 88,000 one-on-one conversations with Maine voters, and we can see a difference. More and more people agree that all loving and committed couples should be able to marry.”
Meanwhile, more than 6,000 people came to Monument Square downtown Portland on Saturday for the Southern Maine Pride Parade and Festival, where support for the November referendum was obvious everywhere.
“What do we want?” shouted someone near the front of the parade.
“Marriage!” others answered.
The equality effort got some official support from town fathers, too.
Portland Mayor Michael Brennan, a parade grand marshal who marched with the Catholics for Marriage Equality, told the crowd that one of his first acts as mayor was joining a national coalition of mayors who support gay marriage.
“The Catholic Church has been on the wrong side” of this issue, Brennan said.
Portland Police Chief Mike Sauschuck, who rode in an open Mercedes coupe convertible as a parade grand marshal, threw his support to gay marriage, citing his own 10-year marriage.
“I think of how much happiness my marriage has brought me,” Sauschuck said.
Source: Maine Sunday Telegram. Photo: Mainers United for Marriage
randy
This is welcome news. However, we’ve all been down this road before. First, many people lie to screw the polls. SEcond, the anti-gay vote is much more motivated than the pro gay vote. So if the pro gay votes thinks it will pass, then they are less likely show up at the polls, whereas the anti-gay vote will show up no matter what.
WE have to push, push, push on two issues — get the undecideds lined up on our side so that polls show at least 60% in our favor, and we have to make sure everyone understands that if you don’t vote, we will lose
Polls don’t get us our rights, only the ballot box.
Janelle
Yes, Randy, people lie in polls. I totally disagree that the anti-gay is more motivated than the pro-gay. The pro-gay vote is adamant. They already push, push, push, right into everyone’s face. The anti-gay vote stays home because he/she does not believe that such a ridiculous, foolish ideas should ever even be considered let alone voted on. The anti-
gay are naive,stay home and do not take action and thus perversity reigns.
Alex
Numbers do not matter votes do. While most people have common sense they may not go out ot the polls to show they support it. Meanwhile the religious right wing nut jobs who obsess over this and think about it daily are piling in buses and clearing their schedule to vote no.
mudgeboy
I agree with Alex and Randy that the anti-gay religious bigots will show up because their priests/ministers/homophobes will tell them that it’s a sin if they don’t vote for god’s law. Religions are huge motivators; think of it, they get people to believe things that no rational person would believe, like a virgin birth, or an infallible pope. They use fear that sinners will go to hell rather than receive the gift of life eternal in “heaven,” wherever that is.