In a recent poll conducted by Daily Kos/ Research2000, Maine voters chose to overturn gay marriage by a slim 48%-46% with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points. Voters were asked the question:

As you may know there will be one question on the ballot this November in Maine addressing the issue of same-sex unions. In part it will read “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry?” A yes vote takes away the right of same-sex couples to marry. A no vote keeps the right of same-sex couples to marry. If the election were held today would you vote YES or NO on this question?

Results below:

Marc Muty, chairman of Stand for Marriage Maine which supports overturning marriage equality responded to the numbers:

“The poll results will likely galvanize our opponents to continue to call us fear-mongoring liars, even as legal scholars and other experts in the field — including some in our opponent’s own camp — independently raise the serious negative effects and conflicts inherent in legalizing homosexual marriage … As our opponents continue to duck the real issues of the campaign in favor of name-calling, and independent experts substantiate our claims about the negative consequences of LD 1020 becoming law, we have every confidence that we will win the hearts and minds of Mainers on November 3rd.”

Unfortunately, it’s starting to feel like California to me…

More from the Value Voters Summit 2009: MSNBC reporter Brian Mooar tried to hold down the fort in the face of heckling by attendees at the Values Voters Summit. Good TV.

Yeah… maybe he was little disruptive. But that’s where the organizers put Mooar to broadcast. And that’s where he stayed. Unlike a Fox News broadcaster… which got some love from attendees as well.

A-list bigots, religious zealots and rightwing hypocrites are holding a meet and greet at the Values Voter Summit 2009 in Washington D.C. this week. Everyone from Rep. Michelle Bachman to actor-turned-minister Stephen Baldwin are on hand to rally conservatives against the teaming hoards that threaten the very fabric of this nation: the gays, the liberals, and one black president.

In the clip below Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage introduces pro-opposite marriage darling and almost-Miss California Carrie Prejean.

Okay… some one fetch me a bucket. Next up, Carrie Prejean.

Intolerant? And the crocodile tears? Oh please make the pablum stop!

The Atlanta Police Department has released nine complaints alleging excessive force and discriminatory comments in a raid last week on the Eagle, a gay leather bar in Atlanta. A sampling of the complaints from the Southern Voice below:

One man said officers grabbed patrons who didn’t immediately lie down by the neck and forced them to the ground. The man said he was kicked in the ribs while lying down. “Then I heard laughing and giggling and saying this is more fun than raiding niggers with crack. They also told us to shut the fuck up unless we were spoken too [sic].” The man said he heard one person told that if he spoke again he would be hit by a chair. He also reported that one officer “said to everyone in general that all you all do is flash your asses and show your cocks.”

An Eagle employee said he did not know what he was charged with until he got to jail. “A lot of officers were laughing and high-fiving each other, and I heard one officer say I thought this was a sex club.”

Another patron described listening to officers chat about their cell phone plans as he lay on the ground. “I was forced down by physical force. They grabbed my neck and pushed me down. They put their boot on my back and told me to stay down. … If anyone asked anything they were told to ‘shut the fuck up.'”

Another patron said he saw officers forcing people to the ground by officers pushing their shoulders or the backs of their heads. He said he asked to move because there was broken glass on the floor where he was lying, and he was told to “shut the fuck up.” The customer recounted hearing anti-gay slurs: “I heard several slurs such as ‘I hate homosexuals.’ I also heard ‘I don’t like fags.’ One officer asked me if I was married and had any children, and he told me I should be ashamed for being there.” The customer recounted having his diabetes medication, which was in an unmarked container, taken and not returned. He recounted hearing another customer told that if he didn’t be quiet, an officer would hit him over the head with one of the barstools. “There were several officers standing over me that started joking about this is a lot of fun, we ought to come back and do this every week.” The customer said he heard an officer say pictures of men on the walls made him sick, and make comments about people’s appearance, including calling him “big boy.” He also said officers were watching the football game on TV during the raid.

A customer said he at first thought the bar was being robbed because the first police officer to yell “get the fuck on the floor” was dressed in civilian clothes and did not display a badge.

An employee who was arrested said that after the customers were allowed to leave, “the officers started high fiving and jumping up in the air bumping into each other like they were at a football game.”

An employee who lives in an apartment over the Eagle, who said he was not working that night, said someone started pounding on his door. He opened the door to two cops who asked if anyone was having sex there. They asked why there was a bed and he said it was because he lives there. He was made to come downstairs and was arrested with the other employees. He recalled hearing comments like “You people are despicable.”

It’s going to take more than sensitivity training and an LGBT liaison to drum the homophobia and racism out of our police force. Parents raising kids who aren’t bigots growing up to be cops would be a good start…. Oh wait a minute, I forgot what country I was living in…