Maine

The results from yesterday's various elections are rather a mixed bag: Republican gubernatorial candidates won in New Jersey and Virginia, while right-wing darling Doug Hoffman lost in New York. The anti-discrimination ordinance passed in Kalamazoo and the domestic partnership law in Washington appears to be winning as well, while the right-wing effort to repeal marriage equality in Maine was victorious.

And to make that loss even more bitter, we are now going to be subject to a bevy of hateful press releases like this typically classless one from Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber:

Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action, issued the following statement on news that the voters of Maine have rejected counterfeit “same-sex marriage” by 53% - 47%:

“There’s good news and bad news here,” said Barber. “The good news is that even in one of the most liberal States in the Union, Maine, the people have once again rejected the ridiculous and oxymoronic notion of ‘same sex marriage.’ The momentum has again shifted – hopefully for good this time – in favor of protecting legitimate marriage.

"A counterfeit is a counterfeit. An orange is an orange no matter how much you want it to be a turnip. This isn’t about ‘marriage.’ It’s about hurting and broken people desperately seeking affirmation of an objectively deviant lifestyle. One that, even in their heart of hearts, they know to be a dead end. As for the militant ‘No on 1’ homosexual activists? I’m reminded of spoiled children dressing up and playing house, refusing to come in when mom calls for dinner".

“Here’s the bad news. The margin of victory could have been greater. Many behind the ‘Yes on 1’ campaign, rather than simply telling the truth, chose the Neville Chamberlain approach. They merely circled the wagons around the word ‘marriage,’ even suggesting that ‘domestic partnerships’ (‘gay marriages’ by another name) are acceptable. This makes no sense. If that’s a viable compromise, then why not simply allow 'gay' duos the word ‘marriage’? It’s an incongruity that demands an explanation.

"This is an historic battle for the minds and souls of our children – for our very culture. The mealy-mouthed approach must end. This is not just about ‘marriage.’ It has everything to do with forced affirmation of homosexuality – under penalty of law.

"Indeed everyone who fought hard to defend marriage in Maine is to be congratulated, but if it weren’t for a brave group of truth tellers – Paul Madore, Peter LaBarbera and Brian Camenker – who came to Maine in the final hour to hold a press conference and address the pink elephant in the room – homosexual deviancy and the radical ‘gay’ agenda – counterfeit marriage might have prevailed."

Even in victory, Barber is simply incapable of demonstrating even an iota of class or respect.

Yesterday, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance, and Paul Madore from the Maine Grassroots Coalition hosted a press conference in Maine designed to "expose the hidden aspects of the radical homosexual agenda" at work in the state.

Since their message did not correspond with Stand for Marriage Maine's efforts to appear tolerant, the group quickly denounced the press conference and those involved:

Opponents of same-sex marriage on Wednesday warned that “radical homosexual” groups concealing their true agendas were behind efforts to keep Maine’s gay marriage law on the books.

Those charges were denounced as “hate-filled speech” by the campaign defending gay marriage in Maine, however. And leaders from Stand for Marriage Maine, the organization behind the Nov. 3 ballot initiative to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, quickly distanced themselves from the event.

“We disavow anything said today as being in any way connected to the Stand for Marriage Maine campaign,” said spokesman Scott Fish. “Whatever was said today was simply the words of the people speaking at the press conference.”

In a wide-ranging media event in the State House, three representatives from the Maine Grassroots Coalition, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality and Mass Resistance charged that “extreme groups” with agendas far outside the mainstream were supporting the No on 1 campaign. A small group of supporters also attended the event.

Speakers suggested that enactment of Maine’s gay marriage law will lead to “homosexual indoctrination” in schools as part of a bigger agenda that threatens families and society.

Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, described the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force — one of the nation’s most active gay rights groups — as having “one of the most radical sexual agendas ever conceived.” He also sought to link the group to efforts to legalize public sex and prostitution, claiming this is part of a larger agenda.

“Very clearly there is already a very aggressive agenda in the schools,” said LaBarbera when discussing a news report of a teacher answering a student’s question about her relationship with her partner. “Homosexual so-called marriage only fuels that agenda. It institutionalizes it so that there can be no difference in how this aber-rant form of ‘marriage’ is compared to the real thing.”

Interesting, because on Tuesday LaBarbera was on Janet Porter's radio program along with Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage.  

NOM is Stand for Marriage Maine's largest donor and has "bankrolled more than 60 percent of the campaign to ban same-sex marriages in Maine," so why is Stand for Marriage Maine so eager to distance itself from LaBarbera and his associates even though Gallagher is appearing with him on right-wing radio programs? 

Last week it was The Call that announced it was focusing on the marriage battle in Maine. Now it is Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality and Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance who are heading there to "expose the hidden aspects of the radical homosexual agenda, and will reveal how Maine is being manipulated into voting No on 1":

The Maine Grassroots Coalition will hold a press conference in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta at 11:00 on Wednesday October 28th, to alert the public to the dangers of the radical homosexual agenda. The press conference will feature three well-known pro-family speakers, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance, and Maine's own Paul Madore, from the Maine Grassroots Coalition.

Paul Madore warns that clever advertising by pro-homosexual groups is trying to portray the Yes on 1 campaign as dominated by out-of-state money, when in fact, the pro-homosexual marriage campaign has raised three times more money than our side. Madore also warns that pro-homosexual marriage groups are recruiting same-sex marriage activists from around the country - including San Francisco - to take "Maine Volunteer Vacations" and campaign against our Peoples Veto.

Speakers at the press conference will expose the hidden aspects of the radical homosexual agenda, and will reveal how Maine is being manipulated into voting No on 1.

This is probably not going to help Yes on 1's desperate effort to appear tolerant.

Via Good As You.

Via Good As You, we see that Lou Engle and The Call are focusing on Maine for 21 days of prayer and fasting in order to build a "stonewall" against marriage equality and "cry out to God for the state of Maine and lift the victory of the cross over every false ideology": 

Recently again, I have been challenged by the Lord in a profound way to raise up a wall of intercession to hold back the encroaching ideology. Ezekiel 22:30 says, "I looked for a man who would build up a wall, and stand in the gap before me". I have started to pray out of this scripture that God would begin to raise up a stonewall of intercession. Forty years after the stonewall riots, that many point to as the beginning of the homosexual revolution in America, we are calling for a spiritual stonewall to be raised up all across the nation. I've been asking God, "How do we build this stonewall?"

Recently, I was asked by national Christian leaders and pro-family leaders in Maine to call the whole state of Maine and all of New England to fast and pray for 21 days starting tomorrow October 14 through November 4th, election day. Maine will be voting on whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage. No state has of yet voted for same-sex marriage when the people themselves have gone to the polls. States that have legalized it have done it through the tyranny of courts and lobbyist pressured legislatures.

Maine is the next battlefield. Like California, there is a great mobilization effort on both sides. Prayer could be the winning blow. Daniel fasted 21-days and shifted the influence over the very kings of Persia partnering with the angelic realm (Daniel 10:12-14).

Therefore, we are calling for prayer and fasting across the nation for 21 days in another flashpoint stand of spiritual resistance. On October 14th (Daniel 10:12-14), let the Churches of America turn from their own personal compromise with sin and from an apathetic silence.

Let us cry out to God for the state of Maine and lift the victory of the cross over every false ideology. Then, let us cry out to God for a great awakening in Maine, New England, and the Nation without which I see no hope for America. There are no more tomorrows. For such a time as this we are to build a stonewall and stand in the gap.