New law in Maine challenged

AUGUSTA, Maine - Couples anxious to wed under Maine's new gay marriage law may have a long wait.

A formal challenge to it has been filed, setting into motion plans for a possible public vote that could be months or more than a year away.

"We're very disappointed," said Steve Ryan of Buxton, who was looking forward to the new law with his partner, Jim Bishop. "We plan to get married as soon as we can. This is going to put our whole life on hold."

Activists on both sides Thursday started working up strategies for campaigns leading up to a possible November referendum under a state constitutional provision known as the people's veto.

"The wheels are turning," Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, Maine's chief election official, said after opponents filed an application that sets the stage for the challenge process ahead.

The deadline for opponents to collect at least 55,087 signatures will probably fall in mid-September, about the time the gay marriage law is due to take effect.

However, the law would be stayed as soon as the signatures are submitted for review by election officials. And the timing of when petitions are turned in will determine whether the referendum can be scheduled for this November or June 2010.

Marc Mutty of the Roman Catholic Diocese said challengers expect to get the go-ahead by May 21 to begin collecting signatures to get a referendum on the bill, which was signed Wednesday by Gov. John Baldacci.

Baldacci's action preceded by only hours a vote by the New Hampshire Legislature that sanctioned gay marriage in that neighboring state, but Gov. John Lynch has not decided whether he'll sign the bill.

The phone in Lynch's reception room rang constantly Thursday with callers either pleading for him to sign the bill or veto it.

Lynch's spokesman, Colin Manning, said the bill was being reviewed before being sent to the governor's office. Once it arrives, Lynch will have five days to sign it, veto it or decide to let it become law without his signature.

In Maine, Mutty said he expects canvassing in shopping centers, churches and neighborhoods, although the details aren't worked out.

"I expect a number of interests to come forward, including a number of national interests," said Mutty, who is leading the campaign with Bob Emrich, founder of the Maine Jeremiah Project, a church-based public policy group.

The National Association of Marriage Enhancement - which helped drive successful referendums in Arizona, California and Florida to pass laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman - said it is looking for ways to help out.

But supporters of Maine's new law aren't sitting quietly and said plan their own campaign focusing on personal contact with friends, neighbors and relatives.

Once the state approves the wording on petitions seeking repeal of the law, the petitions will be circulated so voter signatures can be collected. The state constitution requires at least 10 percent of the number of votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election.