UMaine student newspaper endorses same-sex marriage #marryME

In a short, but clearly argued, editorial yesterday, The Maine Campus, the student newspaper at the University of Maine at Orono, endorsed same-sex marriage.

It declares directly, "marriage equality, as it is proposed in Sen. Dennis Damon's bill, LD 1020, poses no threat to Maine's straight marriages or to its religious faithful. ... Socially conservative faiths will not be forced to violate their traditions or beliefs."

It is a brief but powerful equal-rights argument that is more effective for its brevity and unapologetic tone. "This bill makes clear that the state will recognize marriage equally, rather than distinguish acceptable and unacceptable forms of human relationships. Leave that to the churches, and let them debate and mull their own positions in accordance with their own traditions. This bill poses no threat to that process," the editorial says, ending with a powerful punchline that many religious conservatives may shudder at, but that marriage advocates and civil-rights supporters will cheer at: passing same-sex marriage "announces to the world that the state of Maine accepts gays and lesbians for what they are: human."