Mary Conroy, with the opposition group, the "Stand for Marriage, Maine" coalition, outside the statehouse complex. "Today, because of the concern, dedication and hard work of hundreds of people, we will be delivering an excess of 100,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of State."
The Secretary of State will only need to certify about 55-000 of those signatures to authorize a "people's veto" referendum. If it does, the law, now due to take effect in September, will be put on hold until a vote in November.
Among those gathered in Augusta today was Brian Sushay of Brunswick, a husband, father, and opponent of the law the legislature passed this year. "The Legislature did not create the institution of marriage. It only chose, at some point, to recognize and promote what was. So the question remains, under whose authority does the legislature now change this foundational element of society, and even more important, to what end?"
Yesterday, a group supporting same-sex marriage announced it had gathered 60,000 signatures of people who pledged to vote to uphold the same-sex marriage law if it comes to a referendum.