Darlene Huntress is the Program Director of EqualityMaine [5], PO Box 1951, Portland, ME 04104; 207/761-3732
Full Article:
Over the past 28 years, a battle has been waged in Maine about whether or not to make discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) Mainers illegal. The first-ever piece of legislation on this topic was introduced in 1977. The legislation was defeated in its first appearance, but was passed three times over the next 28 years by three different legislatures. In 1993, the law was vetoed by a conservative governor. In 1998 and 2000, similar laws were overturned by referendum in heart-wrenching campaigns. (In 2000, more than 600,000 Mainers voted, and our side lost by fewer than 5,000 votes.) In 2005, again the legislators passed a statewide law protecting against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression in employment, housing, education, credit, and public accommodations. Again, our foes attempted to overturn it through a People's Veto.
Our work began long before the law was even passed, as we were certain that our opponents would attempt to overturn it with a referendum. EqualityMaine, our statewide LGBT organization, began doing "voter ID" work in the field as early as March 2004, so with the support of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force [6], we had identified thousands of supporters by the time the official campaign was launched. In early 2005, Maine Won't Discriminate was convened and a steering committee was built based on several criteria: political experience, gender and age balance, and expertise in the areas of "development and finance," "field and coalitions," "legal and policy," and "media." Our campaign manager was hired early. And we had four full-time field organizers on the ground by the beginning of August.
We had thousands of wonderful volunteers, and amazing coalition partners who not only lent their names in support but did a tremendous amount of work in the field. We hired a full-time campus organizer, energizing a core group of voters whom we desperately needed to turn out on Election Day. Churches, synagogues, and temples sponsored their own phone banks to talk with voters, and hundreds of volunteers gave their time to the campaign on behalf of their faith communities. National LGBT organizations made Maine a priority and brought financial and human resources to the campaign.
We knew from early polling that most people in Maine opposed discrimination, but we also knew that more than half of those people weren't convinced that LGBT people were discriminated against in Maine. Our message was simple: Discrimination happens in Maine, and real people are hurt by it. We were vigilant about staying focused on that message, and didn't get caught in the trap of the "slippery slope to marriage" message of our opponents. We also knew from polling that Maine voters were very familiar with this issue, having voted on it three times in the previous ten years, and that most people had already made up their minds which way to vote. So our biggest job was to energize our base, and to get them invested enough in the issue to go out and vote in November. And so we started talking about our lives, with everyone we knew. Friends, family, neighbors, coworkers… we told the stories of our lives as LGBT people, as parents of gay sons and daughters, as sisters and brothers, as friends. We told stories of real discrimination, and we did not stop talking until the polls closed at 8:00 pm on Election Night. And an amazing thing happened: It worked. Once people realized they knew someone who was gay, once the stories of real-life discrimination got out, our support base didn't just become energized -- it grew. All we had to do was make sure they voted.
But on Election Night, at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland, we didn't know how it would turn out. We knew that we had done everything we possibly could to "squeeze the luck out" of the election, and we kept our faith in the fairness of the Maine voter. But we had stood on the threshold so many times before, we were afraid to really believe that this time we would cross it. When Pat Peard, the president of Maine Won't Discriminate, walked up to the podium around 11:00 that night, we all took a collective breath and listened. "After 28 years, it's over guys… We won!"
After all those years of hard work, heartbreak, and determination, the crowd exploded into hugs, laughter, and tears of utter relief and joy -- and a cheer so loud, it felt like the whole state of Maine was cheering right along with us.
Author's note: Statistically, it was quite a remarkable win -- 55% of Maine voters stood behind us, the largest margin of victory in an LGBT referendum campaign in Maine's history.