The cowardly Westboro Baptist Church hatemonger nutballs who were threatening to picket Seacoast Rep's performance of The Laramie Project last week never showed up, turning what might have been an ugly protest/counter-protest into the opposite of what the "God (and we intolerant bigots) hates fags" group was hoping for.

On the godhatesfags.com website, a Westboro Baptist Church action protesting the performance of The Laramie Project at Seacoast Rep in Portsmouth is slated for next week. It's unclear whether this protest will actually happen; WBC has threatened protests around here before, but has never delivered. Nevertheless, worth being aware of.

Richard Malone, bishop of the Diocese of Portland (which covers all of Maine), wrote an opinion piece in this weekend's Maine Sunday Telegram, addressing climate change, and arguing that the interests of "a global community for which we all must care" require us to deal with the climate crisis.

His arguments are cogent and strong.

GLAD is tweeting that Judge Joseph Tauro ruled today that the Defense of Marriage Act -- which defines marriage as between one man and one woman -- does violate the equal protection clause in the Constitution. He also issued a decision in a similar case brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. I wrote about these cases last month.

Courtesy of local activist Jill Barkley, we discover that Bob Emrich (one of the leaders of the Yes On 1 campaign) has sent around to supporters a note appearing to endorse the proposal in Uganda that would create a law that criminalizes homosexuality, and allows homosexuals to be put to death under certain circumstances.

Out in California, gay-rights activists have proposed the Marriage Protection Act, which would outlaw divorce. It certainly makes a rhetorical point - similar to Jon Stewart (I think) who said that some conservatives are so enamored of marriage that they have completed three or more, start to finish!

Any takers for a similar campaign in Maine?

In last week's Phoenix, I wrote about New Left Media, and the No On 1 documentary they produced during election season. That doc was pretty straightforward (and moving), but Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll are at their best (and funniest, and most terrifying) when they highlight the views of ill-informed right-wingers

John Aravosis at gay.americablog.com has an interesting account of the interplay between the DNC, the Obama administration, the New Jersey governor's race, and the No On 1 campaign here in Maine.

One very interesting point he makes is that the 2008 presidential race had far more people cast ballots than the 2009 No On 1 race.

Deirdre's morning-after-the-election blog post had a line early on that really struck me: she mentions the "sheer disbelief that so many people have a worldview that is so radically different from my own."

I don't think Deirdre is ignorant, or stupid, or insular - quite the opposite of any of that. But her perspective is enlightening.

According to the Bangor Daily News numbers as of 9:25 am, here is the breakdown by county, and a handy map (made with the help of Microsoft MapPoint) showing exactly how little of Maine voted for marriage equality (remember, Yes is to repeal equality and No is to protect it):

I'm very sorry. Personally, professionally, everything. This is terrible. But it has to be said. Jesse Connolly just gave what can only be described as a concession speech at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Sure, he said they'd keep fighting, and make sure every vote was counted. But nobody talks that way if they're winning.

The National Catholic Reporter has a story about Pamela Starbird Beliveau of Lewiston, a lector and Eucharistic minister in her Catholic parish, who wrote an op-ed piece in the Sun Journal supporting same-sex marriage - and who very quickly received a letter from her parish priest saying she would no longer be allowed to lead worship services, specifically because of her pro-equality stance.

The National Catholic Reporter carried a story yesterday about the split in the Catholic Church in Maine, with many practicing Catholics publicly breaking from Bishop Richard Malone, who has led the anti-same-sex-marriage fight. (The Church has put up a lot of money, but so has a group reportedly closely tied to the Mormon Church.)