Portland mayor gets vocal about gay marriage

Today, the city of Portland announced that Mayor Michael Brennan has officially joined the coalition Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, a group of 160-someodd municipal mayors from around the country supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Michael Brennan (BDN file photo by John Clarke Russ)

In Maine, the issue will once again be before voters this fall (read more about the recent history of the same-sex marriage debate here, here and here, among many other stories in the BDN’s online archives).

For Mayor Brennan to take an outspoken stance in support of same-sex marriage is not a surprising step. He voiced his opinion on the subject two months ago, for instance, during the Portland NAACP’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast.

Still, today he took the advocacy a step further, and released a long statement on the topic to coincide with his joining the aforementioned coalition, posted here:

The strength and health of the city of Portland is enhanced when all families are protected and supported. Cities like Portland that celebrate and cultivate diversity are the places were creativity and ideas thrive. It fosters a quality of life attractive to businesses and entrepreneurs and helps our economy grow. Allowing same-sex couples the right to marry enhances our economic competitiveness, improves the lives of families who call Portland home and is simply the right thing to do.

The city of Portland has a longstanding history of advocating for civil rights for all. Twenty years ago, city of Portland voters passed the Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Ordinance, which ensured that all employees, gay, lesbian or straight working in the city could not be discriminated against in the work place. This policy was integrated within all city departments from fire to police to public services and has helped create the diverse workforce serving the city today.

Gay and lesbian couples in committed, loving relationships are our relatives, neighbors, friends and colleagues. And, they deserve to be able to marry the person with whom they share their life. They deserve the recognition and extension of full equal rights granted by such unions including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits — rights and protections my wife and I have been entitled to since our wedding day.

As mayor of Portland, I will work to bring marriage equality to all Maine families and I invite my colleagues in city and town halls across the state to join me in taking this important step toward building a community where all loving couples who want to make the life-long commitment can share in the joy and respect of marriage.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.