Now more than ever, I need your help! And I need your help, because Maine needs us to help them Reject Addendum 1 (their version of California's Prop 8) in 44 short days! I will spend a week during October assisting Equality Maine by talking to voters while going on door-to-door canvasses and at colleges and universities.
Will you help me fund this trip by making a donation to cover a round-trip flight, a rental car, and meals for 9 days? It is estimated that the entire trip will cost about $800. Any additional moneys raised will go to helping other organizers travel to Maine for a week during the month of October.
Right now, the opposition is ahead in the polls by 2 percentage points. That is where California was this time last year. The same group that ran Yes on 8 has started its ad campaign filled with the same lies they used in California. Help us REJECT Addendum 1 by donating today to send organizers to act as volunteer full-time staff in Maine.
It is crucial that Addendum 1 is rejected so that Mainers will not lose marriage equality. They became the first state to legalize same-sex marriages without a court ruling, and help us make them the first state to win a ballot initiative by donating today! I guarantee to work long hours, and talk to as many voters as time allows while in Maine. Every penny helps, and every vote is necessary to REJECT Addendum 1.
A SUMMARIZED TIMELINE ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN MAINE*
April 30, 2009: Maine's Senate approves the bill "An Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom" in a 20-15 vote.
May 5, 2009: Maine's House of Representatives passes the bill in an 89-58 vote.
May 6, 2009: Governor John Baldacci signs the bill after threatening not to sign the bill. The law shall take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns (June 17, 2009). Maine becomes the fifth state in the Nation to recognize same-sex marriages.
May 7, 2009: Opponents of same-sex marriage begin the process to launch a people's veto campaign.
May 19, 2009: The official question to be used on the ballot is released by Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap.
July 31, 2009: The opposition announces it has collected more than 100,000 signatures (double the required 55,087).
September 2, 2009: The Secretary of State's office confirms the ballot initiative will be in the November 2009 ballot. The confirmation puts the law into hold - not allowing the recognition of the law.
