Complacency

This PPH editorial is right on the money.

Supporters of securing the civil rights of gay and lesbian Mainers won a victory last week in the Legislature.

A bill protecting people from discrimination in credit, housing, accommodations and other areas on the basis of sexual orientation won legislative approval, and Gov. Baldacci, as promised, signed it.

Those who have worked hard to bring these needed protections into law, and those lawmakers who supported them, should be proud.

What they shouldn't be, however, is complacent. [...]

No Mainer should have to fear reporting being assaulted for being gay because he fears the disclosure would cost him his job. No lesbian couple raising a child should have to worry that the perfect apartment close to the school won't be offered.

To secure protections against these injustices in the law, the supporters of these rights have to do the hard work of raising money and making their case to Maine people. They cannot assume that just because their cause is just that they will prevail at the ballot box.

There is no short cut, only the hard work of making the case to Maine people that their gay and lesbian neighbors deserve to live without fear.

This law has failed twice when every indication before the vote predicted it would succeed. The Christian Civic League and their allies have a strong and motivated bloc. It's going to take hard work to secure equality in Maine.

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