Supporters of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples have begun their campaign to gather the 57,277 valid signatures necessary to place the issue on the November, 2012 ballot.

According to updates from EqualityMaine on Twitter and Facebook, that effort is going well. Campaign volunteers apparently gathered more than 3,700 signatures last Saturday alone, the first weekend petitions have been available. That puts them on track to easily reach their goal of more than 80,000 signatures by January.

Progressive blogger Andi Parkinson volunteered for the campaign in Lewiston and provides this write-up, along with photos and video of the campaign's first weekend.

Opponents of equal marriage aren’t sitting on their hands, however. Despite their recent loss at the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals as they attempted to avoid Maine’s campaign finance disclosure laws, the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage has already begun to contribute new money to Stand for Marriage Maine, the PAC they and other anti-equal marriage groups created for their successful 2009 people’s veto referendum of Maine’s marriage law.

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