This November, Maine voters will decide if the state should allow marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples. The measure marks the first time supporters of same-sex “marriage” have proposed the question of legalization on a state ballot.
The proposal goes before voters of the Pine Tree State three years after residents passed a “people’s veto,” effectively negating an effort by the Maine Legislature to legalize same-sex “marriage” earlier in 2009.
The campaigns both for and against the initiative play out in a national context this year…
[blockquote]“This chapter does not require any member of the clergy to perform or any church, religious denomination or other religious institution to host any marriage in violation of the religious beliefs of that member of the clergy, church, religious denomination or other religious institution,†states the proposal.
It goes on to state that a refusal of a religious institution to perform a marriage under the new marriage classification cannot be the source of a lawsuit or threaten its tax-exempt status.
However, if the measure does pass, a host of wedding-related businesses — cake makers, photographers, banquet-hall owners — could encounter a stream of same-sex couples. If a business were to refuse to serve such customers, it might be in violation of a 2005 Maine law that added sexual orientation to civil-rights protection.[/blockquote]
Basically this law would continue the assault on the religious conscience of individuals. By adding “sexual orientation” to anti-discrimination laws we add one’s behavior as a suspect classification and we criminalize opposition to those behaviors. It’s a fascinating expansion of anti-discrimination laws which were originally implemented on the basis of fixed immutable traits such as race and national origin.
Say good bye to freedom of religious practice and conscience and people are forced to approve of other’s sexual behavior.