It turns out that Washington isn’t the only state with a gay marriage measure on the ballot. Maine likewise has one. I haven’t written about Question 1 just because, well, I’m all the way over here. That said, of course, if you’re in Maine, or know someone who is, you should urge them to vote No on 1.

Looking at the history of the referendum, it looks like Maine’s in a similar situation as Washington. Maine’s legislature approved gay marriage, much like Washington’s, and a right-wing group got a referendum on the ballot — in this case, to overturn the law. Unlike Washington, it doesn’t look like they’re trying to pull a fast one with the petition of “allowing a vote on gay marriage”, but rather being up front about their intent to take rights away from people. Also unlike Washington, Maine’s bill is about calling it “marriage”, where in Washington, it’s officially “Everything But Marriage”. (Which, if you read that Times article, explains the reference to Maine being the only state with a gay marriage question on the ballot in this election.)

Unfortunately, the polls are pretty close. Of four recent polls, one is tied, 2 are barely on the “No” side (yay!
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), and 1 is barely on the “Yes” side. (Better news in Washington — R-71 is leading 50-43.) If you’d like, Dan Savage wrote a blog post on how folks outside of Maine can help with Question 1.

Marriage is a human right, and until gay marriage is upheld on a national level, we can only work against adding more states to the 30 who have outlawed it. With luck, that’ll be sooner than later — apparently Obama just signed what’s believed to be the first federal-level law granting any gay rights.