Unfortunately the battle over Maine Gay Marriage is still in play. The gay marriage opponents have gathered enough signatures to get it on the ballot this November to repeal the law, which is being held back, rather than go into effect September 12th. See the video below.

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Our own Senator Jeff Merkely, who is the lead sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act told the Advocate Magazine that the bill could be attached to seperate legislation, as an amendment.

The Advocate continues

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, for example, passed in the Senate this summer as an amendment to a Department of Defense bill.

The ENDA bill was introduced earlier today by Senator Merkley, along with Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Maine Republican senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. There are currently 34 additional cosponsors, according to a Merkley spokeswoman.

A House version of the legislation with similar language was introduced in June by Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Both bills prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as well as gender identity — removal of gender identity language from the House’s 2007 ENDA bill led to an uproar among many gay and transgender rights advocates. Though that bill passed the House, the Senate did not take up any companion legislation.

If passed, ENDA would prohibit employers from firing an employee or refusing to hire or promote a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity. President Obama has said he will sign the legislation, though the bill’s chances of passage are unclear, especially if it is attached as an amendment to another piece of legislation.

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As we all know by now, our equal rights struggle can be a bit frustrating. One step forward, two steps back. Two steps forward, three steps back. This pattern continues in Maine, where the same public relations firm that helped get Prop. 8 through, has now been hired by the opponents in Maine.

Maine’s “Freedom To Marry” group has in turn hired Jesse Connolly, the chief of staff for House Speaker Hannah Pingree. Conelly states, “This is going to be a campaign that a lot of folks are going to try to say has national implications.” Though they have no goal yet of fundraising that will be needed, Connolly and his political action committee are prepared for a high-profile and costly campaign.

Maine was the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage, when the Governor Baldacci signed it into law on May 6th. The law itself goes into effect in September, unless the opponents collect 55,087 signatures from qualified registered voters.
Read the full story from 365gay.com here…

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