Same-sex marriage in Maine

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Maine since December 29, 2012. The bill for legalization was approved by voters, 53-47 percent, on November 6, 2012, as Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first U.S. states to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote. Election results were certified by the Maine Secretary of State's office and the Governor of Maine on November 29.

The 2012 referendum was a reversal of action on a similar bill three years earlier. On May 6, 2009, a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Maine was signed into law, by Governor John Baldacci following legislative approval. Opponents of the bill successfully petitioned for a referendum before the law went into effect; voters rejected the law on November 3, 2009 in a "people's veto." Until the referendum result rejected the law, it appeared that Maine would be the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislative process with a governor's signature, rather than following a judicial ruling. Vermont was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage by statute, but its legislature did so by overriding its governor's veto.

Both U.S Senators from Maine, Republican Susan Collins and Independent Angus King, support same-sex marriage.

I.P. 1 - L.D. 1017, An Act to Protect Traditional Marriage and Prohibit Same Sex Marriages, was passed on March 28, 1997. On March 27, the House voted 106-39 on the bill followed by the Senate on the 28th which voted for the bill 24-10. The bill would have gone to referendum if it had been rejected by either the governor or the legislature, since the bill was initiated by referendum. It was repealed by Question 1 2012).

In January 2009, Maine state Senator Dennis Damon introduced a bill titled, "An Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom" to allow same-sex couples to marry in Maine. The public hearing took place on April 22 at the Augusta Civic Center because of high levels of interest. The legislation extended the right to refuse to perform same-sex marriages to any "person authorized to join persons in marriage" rather than to clergy only. It did not require that such refusals be based on religious beliefs. The Act also maintained the requirement for genetic counseling in marriage between first cousins of the opposite sex and expanded it to include first cousins of the same sex, despite the inability of persons of the same sex to conceive a child together.

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