A state board on Friday dismissed two licensing complaints that were filed last year against a Nokomis High School guidance counselor because of his appearance in a television ad opposing gay marriage.

The complaints against Don Mendell of Palmyra were filed just before voters repealed the state's same-sex marriage law in November. Both claimed that Mendell had violated the social workers' professional code of ethics by publicly supporting the repeal.

Doug Dunbar, spokesman for the state Office of Licensing & Registration, confirmed Friday that the complaints had been dismissed. ...

Mendell appeared in a TV commercial in support of Question 1, which repealed the gay-marriage law, after Nokomis High's literacy coach Sherri Gould appeared in a commercial, identified as 2005 Teacher of the Year, in opposition to the repeal.

In his commercial, Mendell referred to Gould as a "gay activist already pushing this type of agenda" and asked viewers to vote yes on Question 1 "to prevent homosexual marriage from being pushed on Maine students."

Labels: culture, freedom of speech, gay marriage, Maine, professional associations, schools

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Two national religious groups have taken up the case of a Waterville journalist nearly five months after he was fired for allegedly voicing support for the repeal of Maine’s same-sex marriage law.

Larry Grard, an 18-year veteran reporter at the Morning Sentinel, was dismissed last November after his employer discovered that he responded to an e-mail from an organization that favored same-sex marriage.

Grard said, as a Christian, he was offended by some of the rhetoric contained in an e-mail from the Human Rights Campaign of Washington, D.C., that blamed the outcome of Maine’s same-sex marriage vote on hatred of gays. Using his private e-mail account, Grard responded:

“Who are the hateful, venom-spewing ones? Hint: Not the Yes on 1 crowd. You hateful people have been spreading nothing but vitriol since this campaign began. Good riddance!”

He was fired after management at MaineToday Media, which owns the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel, found out about the e-mail.

Now, Grard, who said he simply was responding to what he felt was hate speech directed at Christians, is fighting his dismissal with the help of two groups committed to preserving religious rights.

The Catholic League of New York, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, and the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission of California both are providing counsel to Grard as he pursues legal options.

Labels: culture, discrimination law, gay marriage, Maine, professional associations, religious liberty

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The dispute between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and Preble Street, an area homeless agency, points out an often forgotten attribute of free speech: It often comes with a price tag.

Just because the government cannot legally restrict an individual or group from making a statement, that doesn't mean that there are no consequences when someone speaks out. When advocates working with Preble Street took a stand on the gay marriage vote last year, they faced the consequence of the agency losing a grant from Portland's Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

That's just what happened, and no one involved should have been surprised.

Critics of the decision seem to forget that CCHD is an arm of the Roman Catholic Church, a religious organization for which charity is just one way it fulfill its mission, which it defines as "spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The church does not give up any of its right to determine how charitable giving fits with that mission when it determines where its money should go.

Labels: Catholic Church, gay marriage, Maine, poverty, religion, religious liberty

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A social service agency's support for same-sex marriage has cost it local and national funding from the Catholic Church's anti-poverty program.

Preble Street's Homeless Voices for Justice program has lost $17,400 this year and will lose $33,000 that it expected for its next fiscal year.

Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the Washington-based Catholic Campaign for Human Development say that Preble Street violated its grant agreement by supporting Maine's "No on 1" campaign last fall.

No on 1 opposed a ballot proposal to overturn the new state law legalizing gay marriage. Voters approved Question 1 on Nov. 3. ...

Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the diocese requires agencies that receive funding to conform to the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church. She said Preble Street agreed to that requirement when it applied for the money.

She provided the Portland Press Herald with a copy of Preble Street's application, signed by Mark Swann, the agency's executive director.

In the application, filled out on Jan. 7, 2009, Swann wrote "no" when asked if his organization promotes or advocates same-sex marriage. ...

He said Preble Street decided to join the coalition that opposed Question 1 because issues of sexual orientation are the single greatest cause of homelessness among youths.

Labels: adolescence, Catholic Church, gay marriage, homosexuality, Maine, poverty, religion

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Labels: Evan Wolfson, gay marriage, Maggie Gallagher, Maine

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A licensing complaint against Nokomis High School guidance counselor Don Mendell about his appearance in a TV commercial opposing gay marriage has sparked a political fight as voters go to the polls.

The complaint was filed by Ann Sullivan, a social worker at Newport Elementary School, according to the Yes on 1 campaign, which supports the effort to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law in today's referendum vote, and the Alliance Defense Fund, whose lawyers now represent Mendell.

Messages left for Sullivan on Monday at Newport Elementary School were not returned.

The Morning Sentinel obtained the complaint last week. It has been filed with the state Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. ...

Citing Mendell's opinion as expressed in the TV commercial, the complaint seeks to revoke Mendell's license because "he does not have the right as a licensed social worker to make public comments that can endanger or promote discrimination."

The complaint cites a code of ethics set by the National Association of Social Workers. The cited sections state that social workers should "treat colleagues with respect and ... should avoid unwarranted negative criticism of colleagues in communications" and they "should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination" on the basis of several factors, including "sexual orientation."

In the commercial, Mendell describes Gould as a "gay activist" and says repealing the law will "prevent homosexual marriage from being pushed on Maine students." Mendell later said in an interview that he wanted people to know "at least one experienced educator, counselor, thought at stake here was something that would have a profound effect on the raising of children," because children should have equal opportunities to be raised by a mother and father, if possible, he said.

Labels: culture, gay marriage, Maine, professional associations, schools

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...Marriage is not just an outlier, it is the only outlier. The fringe of the right will complain about any legal protections for lesbians and gay men, but they can’t put together a majority on any issue except for full marital equality. An enormous majority of Americans even support repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, though political cowardice on that issue still lingers in Congress -- the same cowardice that got us the policy in the first place.

This chart shows that more than a majority in virtually every state, including the ones with the most anti-gay sentiment, supports employment and housing protection, hate crimes laws and health benefits for homosexuals. The trailing issue in all states is always marriage, with majority-plus support in only six states.

In short, these are hard times for homophobes. That’s why gay marriage is such a satisfying issue for the ones who are left. It is the only issue where they can rouse up enough residual bias against gays among otherwise fair-minded people to win an election.

And the importance of that last word cannot be overemphasized. It is direct elections where anti-gay prejudice about marriage can best be exploited. This may be the most toxic consequence of Maine. It is a warning shot to legislatures to avoid exercising their best judgment about fairness for gay citizens. The anti-gay bias that short-circuits rational debate in the electorate at large will make legislative action futile, so don't even bother to try.

Labels: discrimination law, gay marriage, Maine, Marriage

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I’ve followed Maine’s contentious political battle over Question 1 but did not feel that it was my place to enter it. But a letter I co-wrote, urging the governor and Legislature to include specific religious liberty protections in Maine’s same-sex marriage law, has become a centerpiece in the debate about repealing same-sex marriage. ...

Let me be clear, however, it is possible to recognize same-sex marriage without treading on religious liberty. One right need not come at the expense of the other. But this requires careful crafting of protections for conscientious objectors.

I and others urged the governor and Legislature to enact a concrete, legislative solution that avoids the otherwise inevitable conflicts between same-sex marriage laws and religious freedom. The narrow exemption we proposed would clarify that people and organizations may refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings if doing so would violate deeply held beliefs, provided the refusal creates no hardship for the couple seeking the service. ...

The kind of careful, robust, religious protections that we urged the governor and Legislature to include in Maine’s new law are part of the law in Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire. These states protect religious organizations from suit under the state’s anti-discrimination statutes and provide protection from exclusion from certain government programs. While these laws didn’t address every important religious liberty issue, they tackled far more than Maine.

Labels: gay marriage, Maine, religious liberty, Robin F. Wilson

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In response to an inquiry from The Advocate, the White House sent the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s position on same-sex relationship recognition voter referenda in Maine and Washington.

“The President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples, and as he said at the Human Rights Campaign dinner, he believes ‘strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away.’ Also at the dinner, he said he supports, ‘ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country.’" ...

President Obama supports civil unions over full marriage equality for same-sex couples, but he has increasingly walked a fine line on the issue now that six states have legalized same-sex marriage. The president has also said that he believes states should have the right to determine the question of marriage, and as such he supports full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages. His administration, however, continues to defend the law in the courts.

Labels: Barack Obama, gay marriage, Maine

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Will same-sex marriage be taught in schools, if it becomes legal in Maine? No — nothing in law, or curriculum, mandates any Maine student be taught about marriage, same-sex or otherwise.

Should same-sex marriage be taught?

Again, the answer is no. Marriage should not be part of a curriculum. Either as a secular tradition or a religious sacrament, marriage is better left to families to teach, or provide examples of.

A school is not responsible for teaching marriage to kids. What should be taught is respect and tolerance for all peoples, a founding tenet of our society. Schools would do our children and civilization a disservice if they couldn't perform this function.

Labels: culture, gay marriage, Maine, Marriage, schools

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A gay rights advocacy group claims that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine is violating tax rules by helping a referendum campaign that would repeal the state’s new same-sex marriage law.

The Empowering Spirits Foundation said its challenge was filed at an Internal Revenue Service office in Dallas. The San Diego-based group said the diocese is engaging in political activity by collecting signatures for the referendum, violating IRS rules applying to nonprofits.

The ballot question would overturn Maine’s gay marriage law. Gay marriage foes need the signatures of at least 55,087 registered voters to get the question on the ballot. The petitioners have until three months after the Legislature adjourns, which is expected to happen in mid-June, to collect the signatures.

IRS policy allows the diocese to participate in the campaign and help collect signatures, said Marc Mutty, public affairs director for the diocese. He rejected the IRS challenge as a “bogus attempt to sidetrack the campaign.”

Leonard Cole, a Portland attorney who specializes in tax and nonprofit issues, suggested that the church’s involvement could put it at odds with IRS rules that restrict lobbying by tax-exempt nonprofits.

“It’s hard for me to imagine how you seek someone’s signature on a petition without it arguably at least being an attempt to influence their vote once the measure was on the ballot,” Cole said.

Labels: gay marriage, Maine, religion, religious liberty

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Maine’s governor this week signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, but prospects of a “people’s veto” are raising doubts about whether gay couples will soon enjoy marriage rights in the state.

Labels: gay marriage, Maine

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