A Resounding "No"

In the most definitive vote yet on the issue, Mainers rejected discrimination against homosexuals by a 55% - 45% margin on Tuesday night. The vote culminates years of work by Maine Won't Discriminate, which has fought this battle twice in the past. Apparently Mainers are more convinced that homosexuals do, in fact, face discrimination in their daily lives. As Wisdom Weasel pointed out, the Christian Civic League may have also mis-stepped in running a campaign based on irrational fear ("Protect our Children!" "Save Marriage!") rather than making the focus on "special rights" as they have done in the fact. Indeed, I read just one reference to special rights, in a letter to the editor of the Times Record, in following the debate this year. As I wrote the other day, the campaign of Michael Heath and his minions was based on desperate non-truths, and Mainers were savvy enough to see through them. For that, I am proud of my neighbors.

And, in another resounding "no" that caught my eye, voters in Dover, PA ousted an entire school board. Enraged by the board's plans to teach "Intelligent Design" (a religious construct appropriate for Sunday School, not Public School), several residents ran a concerted campaign to take control of the board and reverse this decision. They were hoping for a simple majority but came out with 8 of the 9 seats. Score some big points for freedom of thought in this country!