News Features

Go back in time

Gay and lesbian Mainers revisit the last 25 years

By PORTLAND PHOENIX STAFF | June 24, 2009

EXULTATION Longtime gay-rights activist Dale McCormick celebrates as Governor Angus King signs "An Act to End Discrimination," May 15, 1997. Portland Senator Joel Abromson, the bill's sponsor, is directly behind the governor. CREDIT From the Annette Dragon Papers, LGBT Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, USM Libraries.

To see more photos from Maine's gay-rights activist history, go to the "Future of the Past: Reviving the Queer Archives" exhibit of Annette Dragon's photos at the Maine College of Art, 522 Congress St, Portland, through July 3.

Last weekend was Pride weekend here in Portland, and though rain made its own appearances occasionally, it didn't stop hundreds — even thousands — of people from, well, coming out and celebrating.

But the timing of Pride marks another occasion, too: the 40th anniversary of what many view as the birth of the gay-rights movement. On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, sparking several days of rioting by gays and supporters; on the first anniversary of those riots the first gay pride parades were held.

As the nation — indeed, the world — looks back at the beginning, we here in Maine are also looking at approaching one major goal: marriage equality. It was a main refrain during Southern Maine Pride, and will continue to be a topic for discussion and activism in the coming months and years.

But gay rights is not all about policy, or legal protection, or interpreting divine will. It's about human beings. Here, a group of local gay and lesbian writers look back at their own experiences through the years.

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Benign neglect?
If you are gay or lesbian, or if you care about realizing social justice, you must be wondering when Obama is going to turn his attention to the fact that one in 10 of the nation's more than 230 million adults are second-class citizens.
Letters to the Portland Editor: July 10, 2009
A recent EqualityMaine campaign letter claimed that gay marriage is "the fight for our lives." I wonder whose lives they are talking about, when AIDS service organizations and community health/reproductive clinics across the state have been tightening their belts and desperately trying to crunch numbers.
After the Question 1 vote
Last Tuesday, Maine became the 31st state to put same-sex marriage to a public vote — and to have it lose.
Saying their ‘I don’ts’
In case it slipped by one or two of you out there, Maine is a pretty homogenized state overall, even more so than a carton of Oakhurst or Hood milk.
Continuing homophobia
Deirdre Fulton's and Shay Stewart-Bouley's comments and Seth Berner's letter on the Marriage Equality Act repeal are insightful. I would add another perspective.
Fair Share?
On September 10, Boston City Councilor David Scondras wrote a letter to the city’s group-health-insurance director. “We have a non-discrimination policy in this city which includes people who are gay and lesbian,” wrote the city’s first openly gay city councilor.
Gay deceivers
The California State Supreme Court just upheld Proposition 8, denying gay people the right to marriage. This should disabuse the complacent of the illusion that the religious right has relinquished its death grip on America. So, too, should Kirby Dick's documentary about the homophobic power of closeted right-wing politicians in America.
Play-by-play
On the front lines at the gay-marriage hearing
Do it like we used to do
There's a lot to be said for what opponents of same-sex nuptials call "traditional marriage."
The rain in Maine
If you're planning a trip to Vacationland this summer, be sure to bring your galoshes — the "gay storm" that's been satirized all over the Internet rolled into Maine last week.
Granite grind
Much of New England joined the march toward marriage equality this year, but in the comparably conservative Granite State, its legalization has heated up a partisan battle for control of the governorship in 2010, promising that this political war isn't quite over.
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