In less than a week, Mainers will be voting once again on whether the state should grant same-sex couples the right to marry. In 2009, the Legislature said "yes." But a majority of Maine voters said "no" when opponents of gay marriage got a referendum on the ballot that fall. This time around, supporters of gay marriage are the ones asking voters to decide. They're hoping that over the past three years, they've changed enough hearts and minds to see a different outcome. Samantha Fields has a profile of one Republican legislator who has changed his mind, and has been speaking out in support of Question 1.

You may never have heard of Stacey Fitts (left). But if you've been watching TV lately, you may have seen him in this ad, sponsored by Mainers United for Marriage.

Fitts in ad: "I've always been a Republican. I voted against same-sex marriage in 2009. But I know some gay people. And I've talked with them. And with my family. Deciding who you marry is the most import decision you'll ever make. I don't believe the government should tell anybody who they can love or who they can marry."

A couple of things about Fitts' ad stand out. His party affiliation, for one. And the fact that he voted against same-sex marriage when it came before the Legislature in 2009. For Fitts, those two things are inextricably linked.

"As a Republican, I think any time you take a position that get outside the boundaries of your caucus, you can become alienated and less effective," Fitts says. "And my role in serving my constituents is to remain as effective as I can."

In 2009, when the gay marriage bill came to the floor, the Republican party line was clear: Vote no.

"Now, looking back, was that my personal position? Ehh, probably not. I probably, inside, would have loved to have been able to vote for it," he says.

But at the time, he says it just didn't feel like an option.

"In that game of survivor that is the Legislature, you don't want to be outside the group - that the group means something, and has value," he says.

Besides, he knew he wasn't going to be the deciding vote. It was clear, by the time it came to the floor, that the bill would pass easily.

Fitts was secretly pleased when the law passed. Then the repeal effort began. Outside money began flowing into the state, and the campaign became increasingly acrimonious and divisive.

"As I watched that evolve," he says, "it became clear that I wasn't in support of the veto effort. And that I wouldn't necessarily take a role - which, looking back, probably was another chicken thing for me to do." he says.

But he says he was convinced the veto effort would fail -a nd that he was surprised, and disappointed, when it didn't.
All of that is what led him to this:

Fitts in ad: "Voting Yes protects religious freedom and it protects individual freedom. To me, that's what our country's all about."

A starring role in a television ad asking his fellow Mainers to vote Yes on Question 1. Fitts says that this time, he didn't want to sit on the sidelines.

"I've just seen, for me, how important this is to the families that exist today that would love the opportunity to be families like everybody else and be married," he says.

Since the ad started airing, Fitts has been hearing from lots of people. He says it's all been positive - and a little overwhelming.

"I had a woman - I grew up with her kids, she's in her 70s now - she saw the ad on TV and immediately called, and hunted me down, essentially," he says. "But she called my house one evening and said, 'I saw that picture of you on TV and I thought of that little boy growing up and now how proud I am that you stepped forward on this.' And this is not somebody I would've thought would've taken that stance. But it's surprising to me sometimes the types of people that have come forward and said that they're with me, and that they're with this question. So that's a good thing."

Fitts says he's been surprised by people coming out in support of gay marriage. He hopes that his voice helps. And he also hopes that, just maybe, he'll inspire someone else to have the courage to speak out for what they believe in.

Tomorrow, we'll have a profile of the owners of a small business in central Maine who are opposed to Question 1, and who say their principles and livelihood could be affected by the outcome of the vote.

Photo by Samantha Fields.