I want to take this opportunity to thank Jeff Inglis for his blog post “Discrimination League of Maine” (see thePhoenix.com/AboutTown, April 10). I believe he spoke the truth about Michael Heath and the Christian Civic League when identifying their efforts as akin to those of any other hate group. As a feminist, lesbian activist working in the domestic-violence movement in Maine and organizing within my community, I want to live in a place that will not tolerate hate — or print it on the front page.
Giving Michael Heath and the Christian Civic League (CCL) legitimate press, in my opinion, legitimizes their efforts to discriminate against Mainers. Those of us who are citizens here are not asking for special rights, but human rights to live our lives free from fear — the fear of being attacked, fired from a job, evicted from an apartment, or denied the ability to legally parent our children with our partners. And, yes, some of us want the right to marry the people we love.
I join Jeff in urging the media to not provide Heath and the CCL a platform from which to spew hate and fear of my community, also known as homophobia. If this hate group’s efforts are successful, I urge everyone to vote again to reaffirm that, no, Maine won’t discriminate.
Jill Barkley
Portland
Related:
Fallout from the war, Everybody has the right to be wrong, Life in cartoon motion, More 
- Fallout from the war
I was just reading this distinguished political dissertation in which the Christian Civic League of Maine was described as “a mixture of monstrous chaos and genetic disaster, a phantasmagoric potpourri of crossbred animals, nomadic minerals, virtuous vegetables, aggravating extraterrestrials, and braggart beasts.”
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The late political columnist Davis Rawson once infuriated then-Speaker of the House John Martin to the point that Maine’s most powerful politician told reporters, “Davis Rawson is a drunk and a has-been.”
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Welcome to the Public Broadcasting System’s new show, What Were You Thinking, You Idiot?
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To disguise the fact I was too lazy to do any real work this week, I had to fill this space with a list of all the stupid things the Christian Civic League of Maine did lately.
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Wanted: a right-wing wacko to run for governor of Maine.
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From the podium at EqualityMaine's 25th anniversary dinner last Saturday night, former state senator Ethan Strimling posed a question to the 630 people in attendance: If gay marriage were allowed in Maine, how many of you would tie the knot?
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The bad news for the Portland Press Herald just won't stop.
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Like many in the alternative press, we pride ourselves on being ahead of the game. Sometimes, of course, that means we're wrong about what might be coming down the pike — that's part of the risk of being "out front" and not just reacting to the news as it happens.
- Less
Topics:
Letters
, GLBT Issues, Special Interest Groups, Hate and Extremist Groups, More
, GLBT Issues, Special Interest Groups, Hate and Extremist Groups, Michael Heath, Christian Civic League, Less
