Conservative Babylon

Mike Hein: Another True Christian™ Professional Gay-Hater Off to the Pokey

How to tell them apart: One is a goofy-looking idiot, and the other is an iconic figure of Americana beloved by millions.

Claims to fame: Radically, radically, radically anti-gay, anti-trans, anti-woman former “administrator” (he says), Christian Civic League of Maine (CCLM), renamed Maine Family Policy Council (joined at the hip* with more visible anti-gay hate groups Focus on the Family, Gary Bauer‘s Family Research Council, and Americans for Un-Truth About Homosexuality; involved with CCLM’s PAC, Christian Action League, d/b/a Marriage Matters in Maine (formerly Gambling with the Way Life Should Be); member, John Birch Society; failed Republican candidate for Maine state house (2006, 2012); call-center temp; 2012 Ron Paul delegate (with Hein’s old CCLM boss Mike Heath being Paul’s Iowa campaign director); Alfred E. Neuman-on-steroids lookalike; fraud; jailbird

Moral apex: Aside from all the horrible, hate-filled attacks on gay and lesbian Americans, you mean? Getting sent to the hoosegow for election fraud.

Running down Mikey’s activities over just the past couple of years…

2010: Hein is fired from the Christian Civic League of Maine two weeks after executive director Michael Heath (who calls Porno Pete LaBarbera a “good friend” and claimes marriage equality caused a potato blight in Maine) resigns (“in a huff after seeing his stock plummet throughout Maine’s religious community, including the league’s traditionally conservative evangelical base”) and Carroll Conley, Jr., takes over with the intention of creating a kinder, gentler version of the CCLM (which is a lot like trying to create a kinder, gentler vision of the Ku Klux Klan). Until Conley’s takeover, the League had been left “with a decimated membership, a dwindling bank account and a two-person staff to hold down the fort after Heath moved on” — Hein and the increasingly bitter Fritz Spencer, former editor the CCLM’s rag, “The Record.” — Portland Press Herald, February 6, 2011. (See also the reference to Spencer and Donald Violette in the sidebar, “Christian Civic League of Maine involvement with Maine Question 1.”)

Is Mike Hein divorced, too? We don’t know. All we know is that we followed a link from a post at White Noise Insanity:

“…Mike entered himself in a book contest this summer for a book called, ‘Year of the Cock’ … Mike apparently wanted this book because HE WAS DIVORCING HIS WIFE OVER THE SUMMER OF 2009 (sanctity of marriage my ass!) …”

Mike Hein said…

Wow, the summary of this novel hits so close to home (it’s quite literally what my soon to be ex-wife has done to me within the last year) that it makes me physically sick to my stomach.

Ugh.

Please enter me in the giveaway anyway…

twofistedmanofgod[at]gmail[dot]com …

(This wasn’t the first time Heath quit the CCLM; in September, 1998, the Bangor Daily News reported that Heath — described as “a 37-year-old father of three … widely credited with helping to overturn last year’s [1997's] anti-discrimination legislation through a people’s veto initiative” — left a “divided” CCLM, “embroiled in litigation over internal finances,” to become “director of state affairs” at the Family Research Council. Toldja they were joined at the hip.)

“Hein calls his termination … a violation of the Maine Whistleblower Protection Act after Hein ratted out the league for sidestepping the state’s worker compensation laws. Conley, on the other hand, says he showed Hein the door because of ‘our obvious philosophical differences’ over everything from Conley’s suspicion that Hein may harbor ‘anti-Semitic attitudes’ to what Conley calls Hein’s ‘unhealthy attitude toward women.’” (Portland Press Herald, February 6, 2011) Conley also says “Hein was unwilling to participate in the league’s new mission of having a respectful dialogue on issues such as abortion and homosexual rights.” (Portland Press Herald, May 25, 2012)

February, 2011: Hein files a complaint against the Christian Civic League with the Maine Human Rights Commission.

September, 2011: Hein continues to dog CCLM, now going after its reported merger with yet another radical anti-gay activist group, the Maine Jeremiah Project (“headed up by none other than Bob Emrich, the co-head honcho of the ‘Yes on 1′ campaign”).

December 21, 2011 (high irony alert!): Hein files a request with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to open an investigation into the Christian Civic League, accusing the CCLM of failing to report an in-kind contribution for Republican candidate Raymond Wallace. Hein seems to think an email blast for Wallace (“unashamed Christian candidate”) from the CCLM mentioning that “Christian Civic League Board member Matt Boucher will be … lending a hand” distributing campaign literature for Wallace amounts to an in-kind contribution, and “endorsement of the candidate.”

January, 2012: The Maine Human Rights Commission clears the Christian Civic League in the matter of Hein’s termination.

May, 2012: Hein is charged with attempted theft by deception “after an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. He is accused of using his own money to show that he had enough small donations to qualify for about $1,400 in public financing for his primary campaign and, if he won the nomination, another $3,900 for the general election. … An investigation by the state ethics commission showed that Hein falsified forms signifying that 67 donors had given him $5 each. House candidates need at least 60 individual $5 donations to qualify for Clean Election funding.” (Portland Press Herald, May 25, 2012)

“[A]t least 13 individuals signed R&A [Receipt & General Acknowledgement] forms as ‘contributors’ even though they had not made a qualifying contribution,” states the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices in a May 16th letter to Hein, denying his request for Maine Clean Election Act (MCEA) funding. “In addition, you encouraged these 13 individuals to make false acknowledgements on the forms by signing their names, and you later submitted the forms containing the false statements to the Commission as part of your request for MCEA funding.”

June 6, 2012: Hein pleads not guilty to the attempted theft by deception charge. (See also: State of Maine v. Michael G. Hein [criminal complaint and summons], June 6, 2012)

CCLM no longer hateful enough for embittered former members — oh, and James Dobson is a feminist:

I always knew that [the Christian Civic League of Maine] did some compromising of moral principles, but now I call it anti-Christ and anti-family. …

The League wants to refuse to “demoralize gay and lesbian people.” … In real English, to be gay means to be lively, merry, jovial, showy, or bright. In slang, it means to be licentious or homosexual. Should Christians be following the lead of bad people by starting to talk like them? …

Any organization that refuses to straight-forwardly condemn the practice of homosexual activity is anti-family, anti-Christ, and anti-American, notwithstanding their claim to be otherwise. Those who truly care about homosexuals will tell the truth about how criminal and abominable their actions are. Only this kind of plain dealing will serve to awaken them and lead them to turn to Christ for salvation and help. …

Although we ought to give all people due dignity and respect, morally upright people are deserving of more dignity and respect that the immoral. This is common sense. Would you hire an open homosexual to baby-sit your children, or to teach them in school, or to be a coach who must spend time in the locker room, or make laws for our state, or be in charge of Fannie Mae or Freddy Mac?

Since America’s inception, sodomites and lesbians have never been treated with more dignity and respect than they are now. You would think that they would be satisfied with their “progress.” But no, they want even more rights and more respect and more dignity! They want us to convert and start accepting them as they are in their open sin. And the Christian Civic League wants to give them more dignity and respect. Outrageous! I wonder if Mike Heath (who deserves to be applauded for exposing the perverts in our State government) is being treated with as much dignity and respect as the sodomites and lesbians.

The League wants to look for areas of common ground with these immoral people “like responsibly caring for God’s creation.” This sounds like the League wants to “work together” with the Communists and the children of the devil. The Leftist subverters are using the so-called causes of “caring for God’s creation,” or promoting equality, of “gay” rights, of caring for children, of helping the family, of helping the poor, of women’s rights, of criminals’ rights, etc., to tax us to death, to enslave us, to bring in the New World Order, and to destroy all free nations.

The League is linking up with James Dobson and Focus on the Family, which is very disturbing. Mr. Dobson is regularly promoting feminism, bashing men, using women to teach men, undermining the Authorized Version, refusing to tell wives to submit to their own husbands in everything (Ephesians 5:24), representing Roman Catholics as true Christians, allowing for divorce and remarriage in some cases, fueling the practice of mothers going off to work, and discouraging the rod in disciplining children. And this man is pro-family? …

The League has women on the Board of Directors, which is a clear violation of divine precepts. … The mere act of putting women on a board of directors with men as underlings is a sin against God. It also undermines the family, deprives husbands (the best protectors of wives) of rights, and leads women astray. …

I would appreciate a response, because if I do not get one, I will take it that you folks are settled in your evil course. Too much is at stake. Homosexuals are running this state, and no one can honestly deny it.

When we attempt to wisely reprove sinners and point out their sin and its enormity, we are acting in love and grace. I believe the Christian Civic League of Maine is lacking true love and grace. What I see happening with the League is that you folks are being converted by the homosexuals instead of the homosexuals being converted to Christianity by you. …

— Donald Violette,
Old Paths Bible Church
“Left-leaning direction of the
Christian Civic League of Maine”
(provided by Fritz Spencer)
Magic City Morning Star, February 1, 2011

July 3, 2012: Hein is sentenced to seven days in jail after changing his plea to guilty. “A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office said the attempted theft charge was dropped and that Hein pleaded guilty to the willful violation charge on Tuesday as part of a plea agreement,” explains the Bangor Daily News.

Memorable quote:

The national pro homosexual group that calls itself “Soulforce” is coming to Maine this weekend. Founded by a former speech writer to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the group recruits youth into the homosexual lifestyle. It does this by promoting the idea that certain moral wrongs (like homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexuality) can be the basis for legal rights.

— Mike Hein (attributed), press release lying about Soulforce
“Maine: laughable fundie news brief
about Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights”
Pam Spaulding, October 7, 2007

Memorable observations:

A couple nights ago I got an email from Michael Hein from the Maine Christian Civic League (CCL) who provided me with a link to a post he had done. I clicked on it and found that the CCL reporter had been removed from the Maine Pagan Pride Day parade and ole Michael apparently wants me to feel bad for “his Christians” who were treated so ‘awfully’ by those “Satan worshipers”. *rolling eyes*…

Michael Hein and his CCL do not have my sympathy, because you know damn well, if it was a Christian Pride Day 2007 parade that was going on and a Pagan reporter showed up to report on it, ole Michael and others would have done the same thing! They would have gone after the “Satan worshiper” who dared take their wicked pictures!

It’s the hypocrisy I can’t stand. In fact, I’m tired of anything Christian at this point. Christianity has become a cult of hateful hypocritical swines, because of people like Michael Hein, and it’s too bad, but then again, they’ve reaped what they’ve sewn. If you’re a Christian and you wonder why you can’t say it loudly and proudly today, you can thank people like Michael Hein for ruining it for you. Sorry. Deal with it.

— KayInMaine
“Maine’s Christian Civic League wants my sympathy now”
White Noise Insanity, August 21, 2007

Hein’s whining about being “removed” from a pagan celebration is even more ironic when the Stand for Marriage Maine mob (the money-collectors behind the campaign to strip gay Mainers of their newly-conferred right to marry) were in the habit of barring even the mainstream media from their hate rallies (for example; and note that by this time, the Maine Jeremiah Project ended up being absorbed by the CCLM, which by now had renamed itself the Maine Family Policy Council — uh, do you need a scorecard yet?).

(Here’s a nice little unintended consequence of Hein’s pagan-bashing: As a result of Hein outing “Rita Moran, a Maine Pagan attending the Democratic National Convention as an official delegate for her home state … Rita Moran decided to become more outspoken about her faith and became something of a Pagan spokesperson in the Democratic party. This is part of what took her to the DNC this year. So in many ways, I think we Pagans might want to thank Mr. Hein. What he did back in 2007 was deplorable, but it turned out quite well for many of us.” — Jarred, “With special thanks to Mike Hein,” The Musings of a Confused Man, August 25, 2008)

Hein and his cohort at the CCLM, Mike Heath, love reading the blog. Hein endorses our work, calling Pam’s House Blend “a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy.” and that he is “praying that Pam Spaulding will “turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior.”

— Pam Spaulding
“Maine’s unhinged Christian Civic League on NH’s civil unions”
December 31, 2007

My, my, my how the tables have turned on poor widdle Michael Hein of the Maine Christian Civic League. Here is a guy who is a right wing religious zealot who believes that homosexuals should be excluded when it comes to marriage, oh, but when Maine’s Senate President Libby Mitchell doesn’t include him in on a meeting about gay marriage, suddenly he’s feeling cast out, set aside, and maybe even like a homosexual, you know, the same kind of exclusion he does with his hate rhetoric against the entire gay community!

— KayInMaine
“Mike Hein of the Maine Christian Civic League doesn’t like the idea of not being included”
White Noise Insanity, December 10, 2009

Again, even more ironic when you consider the Maine bigots “excluding” non-supporters from their anti-marriage rallies.

More reading:

• “Discrimination League of Maine,” Portland Phoenix, Apr 10, 2008

• “What If Your Child Or Jesus Was Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian, Intersex or Gay?,” Trans Talk, February 17, 2010

Also: We can’t swear to it, but it certainly looks to us as though Mr. Hein (who uses the email alias “twofistedmanofgod”) also posts to various fora under the moniker, “AugustaNeocon.”. Look at this profile…

…and at these posts on the forum, The Voice of Maine — particularly the replies in each thread to “AugustaNeocon”:

• “Augusta Spellbound Prayer Vigil 2/11/2006,” February 4, 2006

• “Prayer Vigil at Spellbound Gaining Support Among Public,” February 10, 2006

• “Is ‘Girl Interrupted’ not suitable for high school” (“It is absolutely wrong to force public high school children to read this trash. ‘Girl, Interrupted’ is a vile and wicked piece of writing, not fit for any decent adult or child. The parents in this case are to be lauded for their concern, and the School Board ought to be removed for incompetence. For a better understanding of the issue from a Christian perspective go to http://www.cclmaine.org/blogs . You can use the Citizen Action Center to contact the School Board to express your outrage at their actions.”), February 16, 2006

Christian Civic League of Maine involvement with Maine Question 1, the 2009 ballot iniatiative that overturned marriage equality in Maine, from Base8 (LavenderLiberal.com):

Anticipating that legislators in Maine would favor marriage equality, forces allied with the Catholic Church have already formed a new anti-marriage Political Action Committee (PAC) in the state called Maine Marriage Initiative. Listed under another set of names, but both utilizing the services of the same Whiting Law Firm, is another anti-marriage PAC called Marriage Matters in Maine. Peter McPartland, Director of Parish Financial Services for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, just happens to also be the Treasurer for the Maine Marriage Initiative. Linda Moulin of the Portland Diocesan Office of Public Affairs happens to be this PAC’s President, although the PAC is doing its darndest to obscure the connection here. Michael Hein, leading a state affiliate of the fundamentalist Focus on the Family, has cleared out the funds of another PAC, shuttling the funds over to his new Marriage Matters in Maine PAC.

— “State of Maine OKs Same-Sex Marriage: Catholic Church and
Focus on the Family
Ready Their Money Machines”
Irregular Times, May 6, 2009

Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland:

Funds Raised = $553,607.50

Source of Funds = $215,500 came from out of state Diocese and Churches. $327,808.27 was not itemized and listed in various amounts. …

Major Spending / Notes = Of the $553,607.50 raised, $512,620.26 went to StandForMarriageMaine.com. $24,658 was salary for Marc Mutty, worked as Director of Public Affairs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and also Chairman of StandForMarriage.com. $11,703.88 was salary for Christine Pitteroff, who also worked for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, and StandForMarriage.com. The remaining $5032.17 is mostly listed as salaries for various Reverends. …

— “Maine People’s Veto of Same Sex Marriage Law — the Money Trail”
Citizen Maine, November 25, 2009

. . .

Pitteroff, Christine T.

Admin assistant, Portland Diocese Chancery Public Affairs Office. …

STANDFORMARRIAGEMAINE.COM (ANTI-GAY)
CHRISTINE T. PITTEROFF
[Chris Pitteroff]
13 HUNTER LANE
TOPSHAM, ME 04086
07/31/09 – $1,200.00 – EXP – CNS Campaign Consultant
08/31/09 – $1,200.00 – EXP – CNS Campaign Consultant
08/11/09 – $27.24 – EXP – (Food for campaign…)
08/31/09 – $45.00 – EXP – OFF (Office rent, utilities…)
09/24/09 – $1,200.00 – UNPAID DEBT – Campaign…
09/24/09 – $45.00 – UNPAID DEBT – Telephone…

Pitteroff organized at least one anti-gay rally that joined natural enemies (radical Catholics & crazed evanglicals) to band together:

Please join us at the Augusta Civic Center for the Stand For Marriage Rally presented by Focus on the Family, The Maine Jeremiah Project, Family Research Council, Stand For Marriage Maine (SFMM) and many other family groups on the evening of September 13, 2009 from 6-8 p.m. Invited speakers include Bishop Richard Malone, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Pastor Bob Emrich — Director of the Maine Jeremiah Project and other national and locally known supporters of traditional marriage. …

— portlanddiocese.net

. . .

Christian Civic League of Maine
a.k.a. Maine Family Policy Council
70 Sewall St
Augusta, ME 04330
Phone: (207) 622-7634
mainefamilypolicycouncil.com

Anti-gay beyond description. Everything you could ever want to know about this hate-fueled bunch, you can learn from Jeremy: Good As You: Maine Family Policy Council (aka Christian Civic League of Maine) Roundup

MAINE GRASSROOTS COALITION/MAINE Q1 (ANTI-GAY)
CHRISTIAN CIVIC LEAGUE OF MAINE
AUGUSTA, ME
02/20/09 – $1,500.00
Source: FollowTheMoney.org

MARRIAGE MATTERS IN MAINE/MAINE Q1 (ANTI-GAY)
MAINE FAMILY POLICY COUNCIL
AUGUSTA, ME
06/23/09 – $625.00
06/29/09 – $1,447.00
Source: FollowTheMoney.org

STANDFORMARRIAGEMAINE.COM (ANTI-GAY)
DONALD VIOLETTE
52 CHANDLER ROAD
MONROE ME 04951
09/18/2009 – $100.00 – CASH

Completely off-the-hook Maine Family Policy Council member who really, really hates Teh Gheyz; e.g.:

U.S. should be “one nation under God, Christians”

Marriage means “the legal union of a man and woman for life.” God instituted marriage to promote the well-being of men, women and children. Redefining marriage will cause everyone to suffer.

Pro-family people will suffer. As children are taught a deviant view of sex in public schools, parents will be forced (by their conscience) to withdraw them. Parents will be forced to fund these corrupt schools (through taxes) as well as their own children’s private education.

Taxpayers will be forced to pay for health-care costs for STDs, for partner’s benefits, etc.

Business owners and landlords will be forced (through fear of a lawsuit) to keep common-sense beliefs about marriage to themselves and thus be hindered in their religious freedom.

Free-speech advocates will suffer. When it becomes a crime to speak the truth about sin, a nation will sin more and more, be abandoned by God and be ruled by thugs.

Homosexuals themselves will suffer, being encouraged in their self-destructive ways that lead to hell.

Oligarchs are exploiting homosexuals to undermine the family and pure religion. They want to strip us of our constitutional rights in order to bring America down to the level of inferior countries and put in place a global, anti-Christ, Marxist system.

I prefer America being one nation under God and Christians (as 200 years ago) rather than under Satan, heathens and homosexuals (as today).

Please defend marriage and give children a better chance to have a mom and dad.

— Donald Violette
Monroe
LTTE, Kennebec Journal, July 23, 2009

. . .

Gambling with the Way Life Should Be
70 Sewall St
Augusta, ME 04330
Phone: (207) 447-1741
www.gamblingwiththewaylifeshouldbe.com

MARRIAGE MATTERS IN MAINE/MAINE Q1 (ANTI-GAY)
GAMBLING WITH THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE
AUGUSTA, ME
03/05/09 – $152.00
Source: FollowTheMoney.org

• “Spellbound article from Capital Weekly (Augusta),” March 18, 2006

• “Spellbound (Augusta) Out of Business!,” March 27, 2006

• “Michael of Augusta, A Modern Day Christian Prophet?,” April 16, 2006

• “Poll: Who would you vote to elect State Representative? (Hein / I hate God, and worship Satan),” April 19, 2006

• “Spellbound’s Cautionary Tale of the Work of Satan,” May 3, 2006

• “My Candidates’ Forum Commentary,” May 18, 2006

• “No Apology Needed by Mike Heath,” May 21, 2006

• Deleted post, May 29, 2006

• “Southern Maine Gay Pride Video, Portland,” June 19, 2006

• “Breaking News: Civic League censored by Maine Newspaper,” September 22, 2006

• “Why John Baldacci will lose,” September 25, 2006

• “C.W. & K.J. Endorse Kim Silsby,” October 13, 2006

• “Senator Woodcock Attends Pro-Choice/Pro-Homosexual GOP Rally,” October 14, 2006

• “Civic League’s Castro/Baldacci Picture Surfaces on YouTube,” October 17, 2006

• “I’ve Voted, and You Should, Too,” November 4, 2006

• “Mike Heath’s comments on Maine GOP Chair Joe Bruno,” December 15, 2006

• “Out Maine lesbian to lobby for more ‘gay’ special rights,” January 5, 2007

• “Mike Heath Abortion Interview Opportunity Press Release,” January 12. 2007

• “‘Heath an inspiration to Christians’ K.J. Letter,” January 17, 2007

Also: Comment, “Morning Surprise in the Kennebec Journal” (“It’s interesting that, while Michael Heath is the ‘front man’ for the MCCL (and has kindly put links to the best gay cruising sites in Florida on his blog site), Michael Hein appears to be the ‘hatchet man’. This is a Republican who, when he ran for Maine House last year, was renounced by his own party and denied access to Voter Vault, their voter information system. Under his screen name, AugustaNeocon, he’s been dumped from the Maine conservative sites, including As Maine Goes. He’s a loose canon [sic], but scary enough because he holds a ‘carry concealed’ weapons permit. Go ahead and Google the guy….interesting, and alarming, stuff.”), DailyKos, August 1, 2007

Random thought: If “AugustaNeocon” is so angry, shouldn’t they take away his gun?

Finally: If this is Hein, then Mike Hein is the American version of Martin “Eat Da Poo Poo” Ssempa.

Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Hein:

This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.

— 1 Timothy 3:1-10

* The formation of the Christian Civic League / Maine Family Policy Council’s PAC, “Coalition to End Special Rights”:

Paul Madore, failed candidate for the state legislature from Lewiston and leader of the successful fight against Equal Protection Lewiston has been chosen to lead the newly formed Coalition to End Special Rights (CESR – pronounced “Caesar”). Their first meeting was held Monday, June 19, 1995.

The Christian Civic League (CCL) of Maine is the parent of this coalition with support from Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the Family Research Council, based in Washington, DC.

The emergence of this coalition is a reflection of the fading star of Carolyn Cosby, Chairperson of Concerned Maine Families (CMF) as a leader in the anti-gay political movement. Cosby has been unable to obtain any funds from national groups and is being investigated by the Ethics Commission in Augusta as a result of a complaint by one of her own supporters – Linda Bean.

Ominously, Bob Knight, who holds the absurdly oxymoronic title of Director of Cultural Studies for the Family Research Council attended the June 19th meeting in Lewiston. The Family Research Council is a Washington, DC based radical right organization which supports the referendum and opposes any legal reform regarding the civil rights of homosexuals.

Knight is the author of “Homosexual Agenda”, a series of pamphlets whose “emphasis is given to dispute the 10% figure and other faulty research claims, as well as exposing the homosexual in agenda in schools.” Knight was the keynote speaker at the first meeting of CESR. according to ‘The Record,” newsletter of the Christian Civic League, ‘”Knight indicated that the president of the Family Research Council, Gary Bauer, is very supportive of the referendum.” Knight also told CESR that their coalition had received a strong endorsement from Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy at Focus on the Family.

“The Record” went on, “Knight is convinced the referendum can be won with hard work and the kind of sincere devotion demonstrated in the successful Lewiston campaign of 1993. Paul Madore closed the productive meeting with a promise to commit himself fully to the task of organizing a statewide grassroots effort and the administrative infrastructure to create a ‘Yes’ vote in November. The initial budget for the Coalition is $100,000.”

The Community Pride Reporter (CPR) spoke to Madore and asked him what involvement, if any, CMF would have in CESR. He said, “I was approached by representatives of principal organizations, both state and national and I was asked to head the coalition and I’m just delighted that they gave me that opportunity. I’m very close to this issue and I share their concerns as well, mainly because I believe I understand the message and I’ll be able to bring to the state effort something similar, if not identical to the results in Lewiston.”

When pressed to answer why Concerned Maine Families (CMF) is not included in this coalition and why they were not approached to lead the referendum battle, considering that it was they who gathered the signatures for the petitions to force a referendum, Madore would not answer. He said, “We’re going to be very hard at work in the next few months and I expect to work on behalf of the referendum, that’s what has been delegated to me. He did offer the following observation as to why there may be a problem between Cosby and other supporters of the referendum, “I hope that we all have an opportunity to speak freely on the issue and to maintain the kind of respect that all parties deserve. If there is a problem at all I think it’s that we don’t do that. We fail in that effort. I want to maintain a mutual respect for all people involved and beyond that point I have a plate of fried chicken I’ve been attempting to get to. Let’s talk in the future.”

Christian Coalition Resists Pressure to Join CESR

Paul Volle, Executive Director of the Maine Christian Coalition, told CPR that Madore has asked him to join CESR but Volle does not believe the referendum is constitutional and that the ends do not justify the means. Volle added, “I’m not willing to compromise my principles because they say the issue is so burning and we have to deal with it. I don’t believe that at all. There has been a lot of pressure put on us from national groups and state groups, but we will maintain the position we’ve had since 1993, which is hands off.”

The national Christian Coalition has been receiving pressure from Bob Knight of the Family Research Council – which in turn has been applied to Volle. Knight has called Volle. Madore recently spent two hours trying to get Volle to join CESR. Volle said Madore wants the referendum taken away from Cosby because Madore feels that Cosby is not a credible person.

Volle added, “If you really stop and think about it they (CMF) have some real ethical problems going on with their finances and how they got the signatures from the standpoint … they were trying to tell the general public and the media that it’s not a gay rights issue but when they were going out and collecting the signatures they were saying, ‘Stop the gay rights in the state and overturn the gay rights in Portland.’ So it was one way to one group and another way to a different group. I don’t think that’s an honest perspective. When is she lying? I don’t want to be associated with an effort like that.”

Commenting on the most recent death threat Cosby received Volle said, “It’s another way to get media attention.” Volle said that years ago, when Cosby was involved in slandering legislative candidate Robin Lambert she claimed to have received a death threat then. CPR asked Volle if he has had any personal experience with gay men or lesbians. Volle said that he had a cousin, Steve, a homosexual, who died of AIDS.

— Bruce Balboni
“Anti-Gay Coalition Forms To Support Referendum:
Cosby Shunned as National Groups Take Center Stage in Referendum Battle”
Community Pride Reporter, Vol 3, Number 1, Summer 1995 (via qrd.org)

Speaking of Carolyn Cosby (who left Maine for Georgia in 1997 and became an activist Teabagger who, predictably, is hatin’ on gays Down South just as much as she did Up North)…

Robin D. Lambert, one of the leading figures in the state of Maine over the past three decades in the battle to win equal rights for gay, lesbian, and transgendered people, and an early proponent of AIDS awareness, died of an apparent heart attack on or about October 22nd. He was 56 years of age and suffered from AIDS. …

He was an active Republican since about 1964, first working on Margaret Chase Smith’s campaign. He served as a Legislative Aide at the State House for the Senate Republicans in the mid-1970′s, and was good friends with Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. …

In his 2002 State Senate race, Lambert listed his priorities as:

-Increased state aid to K-12 education.

-Reduced health insurance cost, making health care affordable and accessible to more people.

-Support for equal rights for all Mainers.

-Support for small businesses by limiting tax and regulatory burdens.

-More affordable housing for all the people of Portland.

Lambert was one of the founders of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Association (MLGPA) in 1983. The organization was founded to fight for civil rights and equal protection under the law for gay people, following the murder of a gay man, Charlie Howard. For many years he was the leading Republican publicly supporting LGBT civil rights, and was able to persuade many in his party to join him in pressing for equal rights for all. …

Robin Lambert was also an early advocate for addressing the complicated and important issues that surrounded the human immunodeficiency infection (HIV) as it began to impact Maine. As an openly gay man with many friends who were at risk for the infection, and also as a director of Human Resources at Konica, he recognized immediately the deadly potential of the virus to affect all Maine people. …

He was active in many business and community organizations, including service as President of the Human Resources Association of the Maine Chamber and Business Alliance, and was also a member of the National Association of Manufacturers. He was co-owner of Natasha’s Restaurant in Portland from 1997 to 1999. …

— “Robin Lambert Dies At 56”
West End News, October 31, 2006

A Portland father and son broke the law when they anonymously mailed anti-homosexual fliers during a legislative prmary campaign last June, a state ethics panel ruled Friday. …

[William Harrigan, 65, and John Patrick Harrigan, 26] each face up to $1,100 in fines, according to William Stokes, attorney for the commission that investigated the flier denouncing Robin Lambert, an unsuccessful candidate in a state senate primary in Portland. …

The commission earlier this month had called Paul Volle, the controversial chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, and Carolyn Cosby, chairwoman of the Portland City Committee, to testify under oath about the flier.

Volle and Cosby had refused to answer questions. …

— “Ethics panel rules anti-gay campaign fliers are illegal”
AP, January 24, 1991

We don’t know whether or not Carolyn Cosby lives in a glass house, but if she does, she would do well to heed the age-old admonition not to throw stones. Mrs. Cosby is the leader of a campaign to deny civil rights protection to Maine citizens gay and lesbian citizens. Her political action committee, Concerned Maine Families, has raised thousands of dollars in that effort.

Whatever type of house Mrs. Cosby and her husband occupy, thousands of dollars of Portland property taxes on it remain unpaid, even as Cosby seeks to roll back civil rights protections that city voters approved in a referendum.

Displaying a true hallmark of the zealot, Mrs. Cosby does not consider herself bound by the same laws and obligations that most other citizens live by. Nobody likes to pay taxes, but most of us do our part, knowing that the local property tax is the chief source of revenue that enables cities to run school systems, hire police officers and fire fighters, and otherwise discharge the duties of a government on which we all depend.

In Portland, the tax revenues to which Mrs. Cosby doesn’t contribute also help to assure fair treatment for all of the city’s residents, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Several years ago, Mrs. Cosby was identified as a material witness in a stealthy leaflet campaign aimed at Robin Lambert, a Portland Republican candidate for the state senate in a primary election. The leaflet campaign, targeting Lambert’s acknowledged homosexuality, effectively derailed his candidacy.

When called before the state commission that monitors election practices, Mrs. Cosby refused to answer any of its questions on what she claimed were constitutional grounds, and the matter was eventually dropped when another person claimed responsibility for the improperly anonymous leaflets.

Now, this constitutionally sensitive citizen seeks to amend the laws of our state to deny basic civil rights to people she is well known to abhor. We hope Maine people will answer Mrs. Cosby’s campaign of malice with a resounding “no” reply to Question 1 on the November ballot.

— Marian McCue
“Mrs. Cosby’s House”
The Forecaster, August 3, 1995 (via qrd.org)

In 1990, Robin Lambert, was an out gay man, but — knowing this — prominent Maine Republicans still asked him to run for a Maine State Senate seat. This is the first of a three-part article based on an interview with Robin Lambert who refers to himself as: Cosby’s First Victim. …

[D]uring those years of the late 80′s Pat Robertson was running for President. Locally, Robertson nearly beat out George Bush for Maine delegates to the Republican Convention. From 1986 to 1988, Robertson people began to install their supporters throughout the Maine Republican party. Two of the prominent leaders were Paul Volle, who is now leading the Maine Christian Coalition to repeal the Maine Gay Rights Act. Another, and more influential, leader was Carolyn Cosby.

In 1990, when Charlie Webster, a non-Robertson-esque Republican leader asked Robin to run for the Maine State Senate because Robin was a liberal Republican who could bring the sort of diverse votes, including a gay constituency, that could win a Portland seat, Cosby and Volle were adamantly against him. The hatred of Robin was very deep. According to Robin, when John McKernan called to cajole Mrs. Cosby into supporting Robin’s nomination she replied: “You and your wife (Olympia Snowe) have been supporting baby killing for years, now you want to put a homosexual in office.”

But by then the ultra-conservatives were losing influence and needed more than their dislike of a candidate to keep him off the state party ballot. They would use every means possible — regardless of who got hurt.

— Michael Rossetti
“Cosby’s First Victim”
Fast Times, December 23, 1997 (via qrd.org)

[L]ongtime anti-gay activist Karen Evans, one of the founders of P.O.W.E.R. [Portland Organization for Economic Rights] … ran for office against Robin Lambert in 1990 with anti-gay activist Carolyn Cosby as her campaign manager. During that run for office, Ms. Cosby and Paul Volle were accused of sending out flyers to potential voters ‘outing’ Robin Lambert and warning against a ‘homosexual’ in political office. Ms. Evans was very vocal in that campaign about her disdain for homosexuals. …

— Heidi J. Hart, Windham, ME
Letter, Portland Phoenix, November 22-29, 2001

At 10:15 a.m. Mr. Trafton moved that the Commission meet in executive session to review findings of the investigator assigned to the Robin Lambert case.

The regular meeting was reconvened at 10:40 a.m. Ms. Karen Evans was present and upon being recognized, asserted that neither she nor any member of her campaign staff was involved in distribution of the Lambert flier. She urged the Commission to step up efforts to learn the identity of the person responsible for circulating the flier so that attacks against her might end.

Next, Mr. William Quinn III addressed members of the Commission. He claimed that Ms. Carolyn Cosby had remarked to him in a telephone conversation that “a flier was coming out that proves he’s [Robin Lambert] a homosexual.”

Additionally, Mr. Quinn claimed that he had no further conversations with Ms. Cosby concerning the flier; that he had never seen the flier before it was distributed and that he had no knowledge of the source named on the flier. He noted that he later told media reporters, Mr. Lambert, and the investigator about Ms. Cosby’s remarks. …

…Mr. Cyr made the following motion:

That the Commission on Governmental Ethics, as part of the continuing investigation in the Lambert case, subpoenas Carolyn Cosby and Paul Volle because they may have knowledge as to the principals involved in the organization of the group called Concerned Republicans of Greater Portland Senate District #30. Mr. Ezhaya seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

— Meeting Minutes
State of Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, November 30, 1990

See also:

• “Special Rights: Grassroots Battle Gay Militants,” Larry Lockman, Christian American, February 1995 (via qrd.org)
At the time he wrote this anti-gay hate screed, Lockman was the vice chairman of Cosby’s Concerned Maine Families, but is not identified as such in the article.

• “Gay rights battle gets more complex; Officials sorting out legal issues as groups boost coffers for campaign,” John Hale, Bangor Daily News, February 25, 1995 (via qrd.org)

• “Linda Bean Folkers Cites Cosby’s ‘Untruths’ in Financial Reports,” John Lovell, The Forecaster, August 3, 1995 (via qrd.org)

• “Carolyn Cosby Leaves Portland Taxes Unpaid: CMF Leader Writes PAC Checks To Herself,” Marian McCue, The Forecaster, August 3, 1995 (via qrd.org)

• “Maine Voters to Decide Whether to Ban Rights Protection for Gays,” Peter Jackson, AP, October 18, 1995 (via qrd.org)

• “Diversity commission member: Cosby lied,” AP, November 1, 1995

• “Gay Rights Referendum in Maine” (“Supporters of Question One say they do not represent bigotry, that they’re seeking fairness under the law. At public debates, they argue that Maine is a safe place for homosexuals who need no more legal protection than anyone else. Jonathan Malmude … a member of Concerned Maine Families, the group which crafted Question One … says there’s no proof that homosexuals suffer discrimination and the head of Concerned Maine Families, Carolyn Cosby, says it’s impossible even to prove that someone’s homosexual. … Cosby maintains homosexuals want minority status in order to gain special government treatment, like affirmative action. Maine’s governor, Angus King, disagrees. He wants citizens to vote ‘no’ on Question One.”), PBS Newshour, November 7, 1995

• “Anti-gay leader needs a job, governor says” (“I wish that somebody would offer Carolyn Cosby a job… She obviously needs something to occupy her time.”), AP, May 9, 1996

• “Gay-marriage foes push for Maine law,” Nancy Perry, Portland Presss Herald, September 14, 1996

• “Diversity at the Ballot Box: Electoral Politics and Maine’s Minority Communities, Post-WWII to the Present,” Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine, 2008

• “Doom predictions: Gays into the crystal ball,” Al Diamon, Portland Phoenix, September 30, 2009

Also of interest:

• “County GOP in Maine Battles to Remove Accused Thief [Paul Volle] As Chairman,” AP, April 21, 1990

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