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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 25th, 2014
Senator Susan Collins (R – Maine) has announced that she supports marriage equality. (Bangor Daily News)
“A number of states, including my home state of Maine, have now legalized same-sex marriage, and I agree with that decision,” Collins said in response to a question from the BDN.
This shocks exactly no one. Collins has been a long-time ally of the community and was instrumental in overturning the ban on open service in the military.
She joins only three other GOP Senators in openly supporting marriage equality: Senators Rob Portman of Ohio, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. It is, nevertheless, an important addition and a step in the long road of changing the position of the Republican Party.
It will be interesting to see the response. I suspect the usual loons in the anti-gay special interest groups will whine, but I’m betting that no one in the party leadership is in anyway critical of Sen. Collins.
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Bose in St. Peter MN
June 25th, 2014
Context worth noting, as well: Shenna Bellows, Collins’ opponent, directed the successful Maine equality campaign in 2012.
So yeah, kudos to Collins. At the same time, don’t expect mass-scale shifts of the ballot initiative volunteers and supporters to Collins’ column in November. I’m guessing she’s not taking it lightly that Bellows just earned a long-shot win, recruiting and managing a massive crew of boots on the ground.
Claire Folsom
June 28th, 2014
Nearly every time she ‘crosses the isle’ to support any opposition legislation, she guts it as a condition of support.
Her evolution on this topic is simple political expediency, nothing more. She needs to be removed almost as much as Paul LePage does.
DN
June 30th, 2014
Wow. What courage. Marriage equality has been the law of her state for two years, and she’s just *now* showing her support. Woo… hoo…?
Or is it just that every single time a republican has something to say that is even remotely kind to gay people, Timothy Kincaid has to fall all over himself to thank them?
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