Maine's Anti-Gay Petitioners Caught Lying

Raise your hand if you're totally shocked.

Gerard Caron walked into the Auburn Post Office and was met by a woman with a pair of clipboards. "This petition is against gay marriage and this other petition is to support gay marriage," she said, according to Caron. The Poland man said he asked her why there would be a petition to support something that already happened, referring to the petition "in support of" gay marriage. "She just kinda gave me a little grin and didn't say anything," he said. Then he looked at the two petitions and discovered they were identical, both were supporting the repeal of the same-sex marriage law, Caron said. Caron said he spoke to a friend who had a similar experience at the Lewiston Post Office. Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state, said her office has received calls from people concerned about the petitioning process, but not a surprising number.

Apparently it's completely legal to use whatever deceptive practices you can come up with to get people to sign a petition in Maine. Even the ACLU agrees that it's a free speech issue.

(Tipped by JMG reader Tony In Maine)