Is it just a coincidence that, among our New England brethren, Maine is the only state to not have a law banning discrimination against gay people, and we are the fattest of the New England states?

As current news relates, a possible reason for Maine’s relatively heavier population is the known fact that obesity is linked to higher rates of poverty. And of the New England states, Maine is the poorest. Poverty rates are also inextricably linked to rates of educational achievement among a certain population. Insofar as rates of obesity, poverty and educational achievement, sadly we have more in common with Alabama and Mississippi than Vermont and New Hampshire. Of the 16 states that ban discrimination against gay people, you can bet that Alabama and Mississippi are not among them.

What conclusions are to be drawn by the people of Maine? On issues as varied as educational achievement, obesity, poverty and discrimination against gay people, would the good people of Maine rather be more like New Hampshire and Vermont? Or like Alabama and Mississippi?

Steve McKelvey, Minot