Maine GOP Still Officially Opposes Marriage Equality

The Maine Republican Party updated its platform over the weekend to reiterate its opposition to marriage equality, even though the state has had legal marriage rights for same-sex couples for more than a year.

In addition to declaring its aim to put an end to Common Core education standards, the state's GOP also said it viewed a marriage as strictly a union between one man and one woman, the Associated Press reports. The platform states that the family "is the foundation of a stable society, therefore the government should not interfere, but rather support and protect the integrity and rights of the family."

In 2009, Maine's government enacted a law that would establish marriage equality, signed by Gov. John Baldacci. However, the law did not go into effect, as a voter initiative to repeal it won 53 percent of the vote. But a pro-equality coalition put the question back on the ballot in 2012, and voters approved a new law to reestablish marriage rights for same-sex couples. A month after voters approved the law at the ballot box, a poll showed that 78 percent of respondents said allowing same-sex marriages had no effect on them, according to Freedom to Marry.