American democracy was founded on majority rule with strong protections for minority rights.

Imagine this scenario: After several years of living there, the couple renting the house next door to yours is seen packing their belongings into a moving van. When you ask them why they are moving, the answer is that the landlord discovered they were homosexuals and didn’t want to renew the lease.

Sounds absurd? Well, under current Maine law it is totally legal to refuse to rent housing, withhold hotel accommodations, deny a line of credit, decline acceptance to college or fire a person from their job based solely on sexual orientation. Unlike the rest of New England states, Maine’s Human Rights Protection Act does not include sexual orientation.

However, three months ago men and women from all parts of Maine and all political parties stood together to pass landmark legislation to protect people of all sexual identities from discrimination in the workplace, in housing, education and lending.

The bill, L.D. 1196, was introduced by Gov. Baldacci and sponsored in the Legislature by Sen. Karl Turner, a Republican from Cumberland County, and Rep. Anne Perry, a Democrat from Calais. As the two sponsors of the legislation would indicate, support for the bill was not party specific or geocentric. The bill passed by wide margins in both the House and the Senate.

Maine has a long tradition of standing up for tolerance. In other parts of the country, people are judged on the cut of their clothes, but in Maine we judge people on the quality of their character. This bill does not grant special status to certain people or give them an advantage over any others. It simply says that everyone should get a fair shake when applying for a loan, looking for a job or trying to find housing.

Unfortunately, an organization has mobilized to force a referendum on the issue, keeping the bill from going into effect. The group opposed to this anti-discrimination legislation is called the Coalition for Marriage. As discussed earlier, this legislation is about banning discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations or credit; it is not about allowing same-sex marriage. In fact, the only mention of marriage in L.D. 1196 is a stipulation that the legislation will have no bearing on the question of allowing same-sex marriage and does not supersede Maine’s current statutory ban on same-sex marriage.

Opponents of the legislation also question the need for the bill, saying that many laws already exist to protect people from violence and threats. But this is about eliminating discrimination in other aspects that, while nonviolent, can be extremely damaging to a person.

Opponents also say that some of the Maine cities that have anti-discrimination ordinances – there are 12 – have had no reported instances of the policy being breached and therefore is not needed. But laws are not only needed to provide redress for people when they are harmed, they are needed as statements of what society deems important. Standing against discrimination is of the utmost importance.

American democracy was founded on majority rule, but only with strong protections for minority rights. In the coming months I hope the people of Maine will think long and hard about the importance of standing up for the rights of those people who find themselves marginalized from the greater society.

The question is very simple: Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?

I hope you will join me in saying “no.”

Rep. John Richardson is speaker of the House and represents House District 63, part of Brunswick.

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