enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Dr. Judith Chamberlin holds up a text message proposing to her partner Karen Marlin after the Maine Senate passed the gay marriage bill Wednesday. Marlin's answer was “You bet.” Gov. Baldacci signed the bill into law later in the day.

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enlarge Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Couples celebrate the law signed by Maine Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday legalizing the right of same-sex couples to marry.

WHAT'S NEXT? PEOPLE'S VETO PROCEDURE

THE LAW allowing gay marriages is set to take effect 91 days after the Legislature adjourns, likely by mid-June.

OPPONENTS SAY they will launch a people's veto campaign to put the issue to a statewide vote on Nov. 3.

MAINE IS ONE of 24 states that allows voters to veto newly passed laws. Opponents have until 10 business days after the legislative session ends to apply for a people's veto petition.

ONCE FILED, the Secretary of State has 10 business days to review the application, and reject it on technical grounds, or accept it and provide the ballot question to the applicant.

ONCE A QUESTION IS APPROVED, opponents must gather 55,087 signatures from registered voters by 5 p.m. on the 90th day after the Legislature adjourns.

IF THEY SUCCEED in gathering enough signatures, the law would not take effect unless voters uphold it at the ballot box.

AUGUSTA — Maine became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage Wednesday after Democratic Gov. John Baldacci abandoned his earlier opposition and signed into law a bill allowing gays to wed.

The governor's signature came less than an hour after the measure won final approval from the Maine Senate, which voted 21-13, with one absent, to pass the law. The House passed the bill Tuesday.

Baldacci said that while he has opposed gay marriage in the past, "I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage."

Opponents pledged to launch a petition drive to overturn the law. Baldacci acknowledged as much in signing the bill into law, noting that voters will probably have the final say.

In the past, Baldacci said, he didn't think Maine was ready for same-sex marriage. Now, he said, times have changed.

"We continue to evolve, and we have to adapt," he said. "I think people are beginning to realize we are not all the same, but we are all Americans."

The bill's passage came on a dramatic day for gay marriage in New England. Hours after Baldacci's signature, New Hampshire lawmakers sent a gay marriage bill to their governor, who has not said if he will sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the only New England state without a law allowing gay marriage.

The Maine bill, known as LD 1020, authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. It applies to residents and non-residents. The law goes into effect 91 days after the Legislature adjourns in mid-June, which means sometime in mid-September.

Baldacci didn't signal until Wednesday how he would vote on the bill. He could have signed it, vetoed it or allowed it to become law without his signature. He had 10 days to make a decision, leading many to speculate that a decision would be days in the making. In the past, he has said he opposed gay marriages in favor of civil unions.

Baldacci said he had listened to testimony at a public hearing several weeks ago that drew thousands in support and opposition of LD 1020.

And he said he closely followed the floor debate on the bill in both the House and Senate, and also read some of the thousands of letters and e-mails he received on the topic.

Baldacci said another key factor in his decision was that LD 1020 reaffirmed the concept of separation of church and state, with language that clearly stated that government cannot penalize religious bodies that choose not to perform gay marriage ceremonies.

Opponents had cast the issue as an attack against traditional marriage and an infringement on religious liberties, while supporters said the issue boiled down to civil rights for gay and lesbian families.

Baldacci said he saw the bill as a way to end discrimination.

"Under the Constitution, we are all the same," he said. "We are supposed to make sure we are all protected from discrimination, regardless of the differences between us. My responsibility, that I swore an oath to do, is that I'm there for everybody."

Earlier, in the Senate, lawmakers held a brief debate on whether LD 1020 would infringe on religious liberties. Senators debated the bill last week for about an hour; the House debated it for about three hours Tuesday before enacting the bill 89-57. Wednesday's Senate vote was largely expected.

Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, gave up her office temporarily to Sen. Lawrence Bliss, D-South Portland. Bliss, an openly gay man who is chairman of the committee that heard nearly 11 hours of testimony on the bill, presided over the vote. He signed the bill, and had it sent to Baldacci.

"The motion prevails," said Bliss simply, as applause broke out. "It's a vote."

Sen. Dennis Damon, LD 1020's sponsor, put out a statement, calling Wednesday...