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Three groups are now seeking a referendum to overturn the new Maine law, including some neighbors from Eliot.

By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer May 15, 2009

AUGUSTA — The number of groups seeking to overturn the state's same-sex marriage law has climbed to three in the week since Gov. John Baldacci signed the bill.

The groups have filed applications with the Secretary of State's Office for a statewide referendum on the law. The secretary of state is expected to approve the wording of a ballot question next week, after which the groups may begin collecting the 55,087 signatures needed to put the so-called people's veto before voters.

Two of the groups filed petitions May 7, the day after the law was enacted. One represents the Roman Catholic Church and the Maine Marriage Alliance, and the other includes members of the Maine Family Policy Council, formerly known as the Christian Civic League of Maine.

The third group filed paperwork Tuesday and is made up of several residents of Eliot, in York County.

The law's detractors say the number of petitions suggests there is broad opposition to gay marriage, but supporters of the law dismissed that notion.

"I think what you're seeing is (efforts) from several different sources. It's not all the one expected source that might file such a thing," said the Rev. Bob Emrich, a founder of the Maine Marriage Alliance. "If you have different people who've never heard of each other, it sort of indicates there's a wide range of opposition to this."

Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine, the state's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered advocacy group, disagreed. She said the first two groups have already been working against gay marriage. And she noted that gay-marriage proponents collected tens of thousands of postcards in support of the idea last November.

The filing of three ballot petitions, she said, "doesn't even compare."

Each petition for a people's veto must be signed by five registered voters.

The five registered voters on Emrich's application are Timothy Russell of Sidney, Penelope Morrell of Belgrade, Shawn Roderick of Freeport, Marc Mutty of Freeport and Philip Curtis of Madison. Mutty is the public affairs director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, and Curtis is assistant Republican leader of the House of Representatives.

Emrich, Curtis and Mutty, in particular, were vocal in their opposition to same-sex marriage as the issue passed through the Legislature.

The other May 7 petition was filed by Stephen Whiting of Scarborough. Whiting serves as the Maine Family Policy Council's attorney as needed, and is state director of the American Center for Law & Justice. The five voters on his application are his wife, Patrice Whiting, and friends Stephanie Fielding, Perry Fielding and Elizabeth Daigle, all of Scarborough, and Robert Lowell Jr. of Gorham.

Emrich and Whiting said their two groups were communicating and coordinating on strategy. But neither was aware of the Eliot group.

Whiting said he filed May 7 so veto supporters could start collecting signatures as early as possible. "The sooner you file, the sooner the process gets going," said Whiting. "The sooner we filed, the better off we were."

The group from Eliot includes Joan McKitrick, John McKitrick, Sandra Smith, Dorothy Manson, Jeanette Paul and Elizabeth Spinney.

Joan McKitrick said those who signed the petition were neighbors who felt they had to act after the law was passed.

"We all got together and wanted to do something about it," McKitrick said. "Civil unions are federal and that's OK. Marriage is a religious ordinance."

She said she hadn't heard of the people in the other groups, and wasn't coordinating efforts with them.

Having multiple groups file veto applications isn't uncommon, said Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state. Last year, she said, there were several filed in an effort to repeal the beverage tax.

Although there are three petitions, the secretary of state will deliver...