PORTLAND — A large crowd lined Congress Street and the route to Deering Oaks on Saturday for the first Southern Maine Pride Parade since Maine's lawmakers voted to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the state.
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Monument Square was filled with people, including a large group that carried a long rainbow banner in the parade. The sidewalks were packed with people cheering various organizations. In some spots the crowd was four and five deep.
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U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Portland on Saturday night, told a crowd of about 150 that Maine is now at the "center of the fight" for gay marriage, and supporters here have a chance to "deliver one of the best punches in favor of our fight that we've seen in a long time."
National gay rights advocates are looking to Maine for momentum in the wake of a major defeat last year in California, where voters overturned same-sex marriage.
Frank said if activists in Maine can clear the anticipated hurdle in November, same-sex marriage could be here to stay. History has shown that once various forms of equal rights legislation are on the books for a few years, opposition to them tends to fade, he said.
"The longer it is in effect, the less people are opposed to it," Frank said.
He said fears of widespread decline in the health of traditional marriages – a common argument from opponents – have not materialized in his state, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2004.
"No one argues that straight people have been disadvantaged," Frank said.
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Gay rights advocates have yet to score a same-sex marriage victory at the polls and are eager to do so in Maine, said Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine, the state's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered advocacy group.
Equally as determined are opponents of gay marriage, who announced last week they had hired the public relations firm that worked on the successful Proposition 8 campaign in California to work to overturn same-sex marriage here.
But worries about a tough campaign didn't seem to diminish enthusiasm for the events Saturday. Mark Holt, the coordinator of Southern Maine Pride, said the parade attracted a record number of participants. Nearly 700 people, representing 60 groups, registered to march, he said.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=263653&ac=PHnws
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