In The News 
Gay marriage contribution reports due on Friday
Friday marks the deadline for the final campaign spending reports before Mainers go to the polls on Election Day to decide whether to keep or toss the state's gay marriage law.
Anti-gay PAC wants donor lists kept secret
Washington state voters who signed petitions to repeal a law enhancing rights for same-sex couples don't enjoy a right to confidentiality, and their names can be disclosed to the public, a federal appeals court panel ruled Thursday.
Petition signers against expanded gay rights can’t keep names secret
A U.S. appeals court rules that a Washington state law calling for such disclosure serves the public interest. The case stems in part from the backlash over California's anti-gay-marriage Prop. 8. Washington state voters who signed petitions to repeal a law enhancing rights for same-sex couples don't enjoy a right to confidentiality, and their names can be disclosed to the public, a federal appeals court panel ruled Thursday.
Voters to settle issue of rights for same-sex couples
Referendum 71 is the biggest civil rights issue placed in the hands of Washington voters since an anti-equal opportunity measure reached the ballot a decade ago.
Federal court lifts order blocking release of R-71 petitions
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday granted an immediate stay and reversed a lower court's preliminary injunction blocking the release of Referendum 71 petitions. The petitions contain the names and addresses of people who signed, hoping to put a Washington's domestic partnership law to a vote.
Same-sex marriage supporters outnumber foes, new poll says
A new poll shows an edge for supporters of same-sex marriage in Maine's Nov. 3 referendum, with 51.8 percent of those surveyed saying they plan to vote to uphold the law legalizing it and 42.9 percent planning to vote for repeal.
Judge rejects bid to quash same-sex marriage suit
A federal judge refused Wednesday to dismiss a constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, ruling that a trial was required to resolve legal and factual disputes over the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.
Pulpit Politics
The Roman Catholic Church in Maine is working hard to pass Question 1, the citizen ballot initiative that would repeal the state's recently enacted law that allows same-sex marriage. Amid the clamor on Question 1, some have suggested the Catholic Church and other churches are exceeding the parameters of their tax-exempt status by choosing sides in what are political matters, at least in the sense that they are decided at the ballot booth.
Poll: 51.8% plan to vote no on question 1
According to new poll data, 51.8 percent of people who plan to vote in November say they will vote no or are leaning in that direction on question 1, the people’s veto of Maine’s same-sex marriage law.
A Right to Have and to Hold
By introducing the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At-Large) has started the District's long-awaited effort to permit same-sex marriage.
