Will a gay marriage bill come forward?

Gay activists are laying the groundwork to bring forward a gay marriage bill during the 2009 legislative session, but say they are still mulling their options. On Election Day, Equality Maine asked voters to sign post cards saying they support gay marriage. They gathered 33,000 of these and plan to send them to legislators. Last night, Shenna Bellows of the Maine Civil Liberties Union and Michael Heath of the Maine Family Policy Council, talked about gay marriage on Channel 13's show, The Political Edge. For the most part, it was a typical debate on the issue, with Heath saying his group would fight efforts to expand the definition of marriage and Bellows arguing the other side. Bellows said she didn't have a "crystal ball" to predict whether a bill will come forward next year, but made it clear the MCLU would be a partner in working for gay marriage. And today, religious leaders held news conferences in four Maine cities to "urge Mainers to end marriage discrimination against same-sex couples." Will 2009 be the year for a gay marriage battle in Maine?