City Council says 'yes' to gay marriage

South Portland becomes the third Maine city to take a stance on the same-sex marriage vote

SOUTH PORTLAND — On Monday, Maine’s fourth-largest city became the third municipality in the state to publicly endorse same-sex marriage.

The City Council voted 5-1 to adopt a resolution “in support of an affirmative vote on the November referendum to allow the State of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.”

Only Councilor Alan Livingston opposed the measure. Jerry Jalbert, who was absent from the meeting, sent a message of support for the measure read aloud by City Manager Jim Gailey just prior to the vote.

“If I had been asked 30 years ago, I would have said, ‘No,’” wrote Jalbert. "But after all the years that I have seen the committed relationships of same-sex couples, I see this question in the light of a new person.”

Like his fellow councilors who voted for the proclamation, Jalbert noted that the vote was symbolic, carrying no legal weight. The Portland City Council made a similar measure in a unanimous vote Oct. 15, following a united vote by Bangor city councilors Oct. 10.

Livingston, who teaches math at Cheverus High School, a private Jesuit school in Portland, did not take a position on the topic of same-sex marriage. Instead, his opposition, like that of a half-dozen residents who rose during a comment period of Monday’s meeting, was that it was inappropriate for the council to take a position on a statewide referendum question.

“I don’t think it’s our place to say what is proper or not proper,” he said. “This is a citizen’s initiative. It’s a state question. I think it’s up to each citizen to decide individually what they feel.

“If it had something to do with money, that affected the city financially, maybe we might want a resolution,” he said, “but for us to take on a moral issue, pro or con – I’m not saying I’m for or against, that’s my privilege to vote and you don’t know how I feel, that’s up to me – I don’t think that’s our place.”

“I don’t have any objection to anybody having their own personal opinion,” agreed Hill Street resident Jim Hoy. “My concern is, the council, representing the city of South Portland, taking a position on one item on the ballot. Would you do the same thing regarding any other issue on the ballot?

“You can do all kinds of things to express yourselves as individuals, but as a collective, to represent my interest on issues on the state ballot, I kind of think this is outside the scope of work of your job descriptions,” Hoy told the council, generating a brief spate of applause from his side of the 30-member audience.

Livingston said he was particularly concerned about the last paragraph of the resolve, which read, “City staff is hereby authorized, acting on behalf of the South Portland City Council, to actively support an affirmative vote on the November referendum to allow the State of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.”

“For us to actually go out and tell our staff how they should act with regard to this, I just don’t think this is proper,” he said, comparing the measure to a hypothetical resolution requiring city employees to lobby the public in favor of the council’s choice for a presidential candidate.

Livingston also faulted Mayor Patti Smith for brining the issue forward in a special meeting staged in conjunction with a scheduled workshop session, “very last-minute, with very little time for the citizens to know of it.”

“I just think this is totally wrong,” said Livingston, stressing again that his opposition was based on the process behind the proclamation, not necessarily its content.

Livingston’s fellow councilors, however, held no compunction about the propriety of the vote.

“This resolve doesn’t do anything other than to appreciate the diversity that our community has,” said Smith. “Ultimately, the voters will decide what happens on Question 1, but I felt it was important to represent at least some of my constituents on this matter.”

Smith, who is gay and has been with the same partner for 19 years, attempted to recuse herself from the vote at the onset of Monday’s meeting because she is “temporarily employed” by the Mainers United for Marriage Coalition, which, in January, delivered more than 105,000 signatures to the secretary of state, triggering the Nov. 6 referendum vote.

The council voted 0-4, with Jalbert absent and Livingston late to the meeting, to recuse Smith, claiming that she had no conflict of interest in the matter.

“The action that we take has no benefit specifically to Mayor Smith,” said Councilor Rosemarie De Angelis. “She gains nothing from our voting or not voting on this resolve, which is just a position taken by the council on behalf of the citizens.”

“The world is full on conflicts,” said Councilor Tom Blake. “What’s most important in an elected official is that they can objectively weigh their decision, whether it’s a vote for an ordinance or a resolution.”

When Smith, who had left the council table during the recusal vote, resumed her seat, she pointed out that family leave time does not extend, under Maine law, to unmarried domestic partners. That, she said, “is a matter of discrimination.”

Councilor Tom Coward, a real estate professional, said that and the inability of gay couples to convey property to one another in the way traditional married couples can, amounts to the “separate but equal” rules that once separated Americans of European and African decent.

“Nobody wants to go back to that,” he said. “This may be a political matter, but it is something that we have the power and the obligation to consider, and to take the action we feel is appropriate,” he said. “I think the country and the culture has evolved over time. This is one small step we can take to do our little bit. The time has come for marriage equality.”

Blake said the question was an “easy decision” for him, in keeping with the city’s motto of “making all things possible.”

“We are tolerant and understanding,” said Blake, “and that’s’ what this resolution says.”

During Blake’s comments, one audience member spoke out over what he termed “an advertising campaign by the South Portland City Council,” prompting a rebuke from Smith to “be respectful while the council is doing its work.” That person immediately got up and left the room.

Councilor Maxine Beecher compared the issue to women’s suffrage.

“There was a time not that long ago when women weren’t allowed to vote,” she said. “Some people had to stand up and say that is not OK. I’m just here to say people should be treated equally.”

“This is a way of demonstrating our commitment to equality,” said De Angelis, noting that South Portland has previously voted to allow gay employees to add domestic partners to their insurance coverage. In 2009, she said, South Portland, rejected a measure to repeal the same-sex marriage law enacted earlier that year by the state Legislature. While the new law was overturned with 53 percent of the vote statewide, only 36 percent of South Portland voters favored doing so.

“I have family and friends, all of whom I love, all of whom matter to me, and many of whom have been affected in their lives by treatment of inequality,” said De Angelis. “I have deep faith that this [proclamation] is the right thing to do, faith that we can learn to accept all people, and faith that this item will prevail on Nov. 6.”

Maine is one of four states with gay-marriage referendums on the ballot next month. The others are Minnesota, where the legislature has sent the issue to the public, and Washington and Maryland, both of which are weighing measures to overturn gay-marriage rules previously adopted for their respective legislatures.

Since 2004, six states have legalized same-sex marriage, including Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, as have Washington D.C. and two Native American tribal jurisdictions. California, which allowed same-sex marriage in 2008, not recognizes it on a conditional basis only.