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Sunday, September 21, 1997

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Gay-rights battle lines reforming

By JASON WOLFE and ALAN CLENDENNING
Staff Writers
©Copyright 1997 Guy Gannett Communications
Leaders of the effort to rescind Maine's gay-rights law are promising a ''kinder, gentler'' approach as they campaign for votes in an expected statewide referendum.

They say the campaign will focus on the notion of ''special rights'' for gays and lesbians and avoid the inflammatory language that marked an unsuccessful referendum in 1995.

To force the new referendum, gay-rights opponents gathered 58,750 signatures - a formidable political sign that a deep organization already is in place.

On the other side, the start-up of a campaign has begun - but barely.

News on Thursday that gay-rights opponents apparently succeeded in getting the petition signatures they needed to force another showdown prompted dozens of phone calls to gay-rights leaders.

Even now, they are working to quickly resurrect the coalition of groups that repelled a similar effort two years ago. They hope the passion of their supporters will make up for a head start by the other side.

''We are very rapidly pulling ourselves into place again,'' said Pat Peard, founder of Maine Won't Discriminate, which won a gay-rights election in 1995. ''There's no question that people don't want to go through this again. But we will.''

If signatures gathered by the Christian Civic League prove valid, and a special statewide election on gay rights is held, Peard said the new campaign slogan will be slightly altered: ''Maine Still Won't Discriminate.''

It's a tale of two campaign efforts - one just beginning, the other a few months old.

Get-out-the-vote, TV ads

Political experts say they expect a campaign similar to the last anti-gay rights initiative, with victory going to the side that is best organized, best able to get core supporters to the polls, and best able to frame the debate in a way that sways undecided voters to their side.

Both sides will rely heavily on television advertising, experts say.

''Whatever side outworks the other is going to win,'' said William Coogan, a political science professor at the University of Southern Maine. ''It's not rocket science.''

Time will tell if, as the anti-gay right supporters vow now, the campaigns can remain free of the name-calling and extremism that marred past elections.

''Both sides have to run this campaign at the level most Mainers will listen to and not let it degenerate into the gutter where it certainly has been in the past,'' said William Diamond, Maine's former secretary of state.

The latest petition drive came almost two years after an anti-gay rights initiative known as Question 1 was defeated in a statewide referendum by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent.

Four months ago, Gov. Angus King signed a gay-rights law that was passed by legislators last spring. The law forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in credit, employment, housing and public accommodation.

But the gay-rights law will not take effect during the referendum process. If the secretary of state finds the veto campaign gathered enough signatures - at least 51,131 are needed - King will schedule an election for sometime between December and April.

Diamond predicted the date will be set in March to coincide with the town meeting season in Maine. Doing that, he said, will keep down the cost of holding a special election.

Experts believe the referendum will capture the attention of the state and attract as many as 40 percent of Mainers eligible to vote - considered a huge turnout in an off-election vote.

Reaching out beyond core

On the ballot, voters will be asked simply if they want to reject the new gay-rights law.

''It's something that most folks have an opinion on and I think they will express it with a vote,'' Diamond said.

Christian Potholm, a professor in the department of government at Bowdoin College, believes the two sides are dead even in terms of popular support right now, each with a core of backers. The key will be how well they sway the 20 percent of undecided voters, he said.

Neither side can depend solely on their core supporters to win. ''Whichever side assumes that will lose,'' Potholm said.

Money is likely to be injected into Maine from out-of-state sources as the election grows near to finance television ads, said Alan Caron, the chief strategist of Portland's successful 1992 gay-rights referendum. But he does not expect massive spending on either side.

''It's a special election and a relatively short runway, but there will be plenty of media from both sides in the end,'' Caron said. ''King will be on TV again, and I would be surprised if he is not a major voice.''

But grass-roots organizing, including fund raising and door-to-door campaigning, will be more important than any media blitz, experts said.

The two sides must frame a coherent message to make it stick, experts said.

Gay-rights proponents will say the vote is about discrimination against gays, as opposed to gay rights. Proponents will try to generate broad-based support from groups that have already supported them, such as the Maine Business Chamber and Alliance and other business leaders.

Opponents of the law will argue that gay men and lesbians are trying to obtain ''special rights'' that others do not have. Morality - whether homosexuals live moral or immoral lives - will remain at the core of the veto campaign.

Bias vs. special rights

''The whole tug of war will be characterized by discrimination on one side and special rights on the other,'' Caron said. ''The message will drive how well you are able to organize your troops. And if it makes sense, it will swell your organization.''

Potholm agreed. ''The campaign will be won by people who can frame the message for people who have not yet made up their minds,'' he said.

Both sides must exercise restraint to appeal to key centrist voters, according to experts.

For example, gay rights supporters must keep radical homosexual groups from taking center stage. Opponents must avoid coming across as intolerant.

''Image is what this whole campaign is about,'' Diamond said. ''Both sides can generate bad images, and their opponents will use that to their advantage. . . . The key is to appeal to that middle-of-the-road voter.''

Paul Madore, who led a successful drive to overturn Lewiston's gay-rights ordinance in 1993, said gay-rights opponents have learned that they must stick to a simple message, show compassion and avoid harsh words.

''In the past, we were so concerned about the adverse affects of this law that we worked aggressively and that aggression was misunderstood,'' he said. ''This time, we need to not come out in an aggressive manner so people can get to the heart of this and debate this in a civil manner.''

Gay-rights opponents assert that homosexuals do not deserve explicit statutory protection from discrimination, or ''special rights.'' They say gays and lesbians do not suffer the same hardships and deprivations faced by other protected minorities distinguished by race, religion, ethnicity, age and other familiar traits.

Sexual morality is a major theme. Organizers from the Christian Civic League of Maine and the Christian Coalition of Maine spearheaded the petition drive.

Madore said gay-rights opponents will rely on the organization already in place to get the message out at the grass-roots level. He expects organizers will reach out first to the nearly 60,000 people who signed their petitions.

He said support for the veto comes from more than conservative churchgoers.

''People don't want this law,'' he said. ''We are convinced of that. We just need them to vote.''

A condensed campaign

Peard, a founder of Maine Won't Discriminate, is just as convinced that Madore and others like him hold a minority view.

But she also realizes that leaders on the pro-gay rights side face an uphill battle to match the organization of the opponents.

Judging by the number of phone calls and e-mail messages she received over the past few days, though, Peard said she is confident supporters will organize quickly.

This time, she said the ''condensed'' campaign - six months as opposed to two years - could change campaign strategies that have yet to be developed.

''I think we're going to be more streamlined,'' Peard said. ''We're going to have to be more focused right away.''

But she said she is heartened that interest in supporting equal rights for gays and lesbians appears to remain high, two years after the last anti-gay rights initiative.

She said she is amazed to see so many of the familiar green ''No on #1, Maine Won't Discriminate'' bumper stickers still on cars.

''People still call and say they want a new one to put on their new car,'' Peard said. ''That tells me something.''