Maine is 5th state to allow gay marriage

UPDATED:

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making Maine the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators also were poised to send a gay-marriage bill to their governor, who hasn’t indicated whether he will sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region’s sole holdout.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat who hadn’t indicated how he would handle his state’s bill, quickly signed it.

“In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,” Mr. Baldacci said in a statement read in his office. “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.”

The vote by the Maine Senate was 21-13, with one lawmaker absent. The bill authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House passed the bill Tuesday.

The law is to take effect in mid-September but could be sidetracked before then. Opponents promise to challenge it through a public veto process that could suspend it while a referendum takes shape.

Legislative debate was brief. Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, Vassalboro Democrat, turned the gavel over to an openly gay member, Sen. Lawrence Bliss, South Portland Democrat, to preside over the final vote.

Sen. Debra Plowman, Hampden Republican, argued that the bill was being passed “at the expense of the people of faith.”

“You are making a decision that is not well-founded,” Ms. Plowman warned.

But Senate Majority Leader Philip Bartlett II said the bill does not compel religious institutions to recognize gay marriage.

“We respect religious liberties… . This is long overdue,” Mr. Bartlett, Gorham Democrat, said.

The activist group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders has targeted all six New England states for passage of a gay marriage law by 2012.

Maine is now the fourth state in the region to allow same-sex marriages. Connecticut enacted a bill after being ordered to allow gay marriages by the courts, and Vermont passed a bill over the governor’s veto.

Massachusetts’ high court ordered the state to recognize gay marriages. In Rhode Island, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been introduced but is not expected to pass this year.

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