Maine legalizes same-sex marriage

AUGUSTA, Maine, May 6 (UPI) -- Maine Gov. John Baldacci Wednesday signed a bill making same-sex marriage legal in the state.

Baldacci called reporters to his office in Augusta shortly after the Maine Senate took final action, 21-13, on the measure that had been approved 89-57 by the House of Representatives Tuesday after rancorous debate, the Times Record said.

With passage of the law, gay rights advocates have moved closer to their goal of making same-sex marriage legal throughout New England.

Massachusetts was the first to allow same-sex couples to marry followed by Connecticut and Vermont.

"In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions," Baldacci said in a statement. "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."

Baldacci said the new law was consistent with the Maine Constitution.

"I believe that signing this legislation is the right thing to do," he said.

Opponents of gay marriage vowed to collect the more than 55,000 signatures required to place the issue before voters in a statewide referendum.