Maine Governor signs same-sex marriage bill!

Wonderful news: Gov. John Baldacci of Maine has signed the same-sex marriage bill passed by the state legislature this week. This was no sure-thing because it meant a reverse in his previous position. His reversal came about because he decided it was a question of fairness and equal protection under the law.

“It’s not the way I was raised and it’s not the way that I am,” he told The New York Times. “But at the same time I have a responsibility to uphold the Constitution. That’s my job, and you can’t allow discrimination to stand when it’s raised to your level.”

The governor acknowledged that there is a likelihood of a public referendum on the issue already being pursued by gay marriage opponents.

“Just as the Maine Constitution demands that all people are treated equally under the law, it also guarantees that the ultimate political power in the State belongs to the people,” he said in the news release. “While the good and just people of Maine may determine this issue, my responsibility is to uphold the Constitution and do, as best as possible, what is right. I believe that signing this legislation is the right thing to do.”

Under state law he had 10 days to decide whether to sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature but Baldacci announced his decision to sign the bill about an hour after the State Senate gave final passage to the bill.

“I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully,” he said in his statement. “I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste.”

Supporters of same-sex marriage have won victory after victory this spring, with the legislatures of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine embracing and the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision last month that same-sex marriage should be legal there. Massachusetts let gay couples marry in 2004, and Connecticut began allowing same-sex marriage last fall.

Meanwhile, California awaits a decision from its Supreme Court on the validity of Proposition 8 which overturned the right of gay couples to marry in the state.