On June 17, 2001, MSOP sponsored gay-and-straight-together Walks with the Ones You Love in ten Maine towns: Augusta, Bangor-Brewer, Brunswick, Dover-Foxcroft, Ellsworth, Farmington, Kennebunk, Lewiston-Auburn, Portland, and Rockland. Special kudos to Jayne Lello (Dover-Foxcroft), Rev. Mac Bigelow (Northeast Harbor) and Marie Paschke (Farmington) for organizing first-time Walks in their communities. It is heartening to see non-gay Mainers like the three of them coming forward to galvanize these Walks for safety and equality for everyone.

Also deserving of special recognition is Martha Palmer of Lisbon Falls for her effective leadership of the Lewiston-Auburn Walk. She is another one of our Speakout "Shrinking Violets" who has broken that mold and become a recognized leader in her community and at L.L. Bean, where she was the featured volunteer in their June newsletter for her "speaking out" and Walk organizing. I want to thank the organizers of the other Walks, for without their efforts, these Walks would not have happened: in Augusta: Rabbi Susan Carvuto; Bangor-Brewer: Fern & Bill Stearns and Dan Williams; Brunswick: Sid & Les Hodgdon, Rev. Bill Imes, and Jane Newhall; Kennebunk: Rosemary Guptill; Portland: David Aaron Swander; and Rockland: Lucie Bauer and Annie Kiermaier.

It meant a lot to us that Gov. King and Mary Herman walked in Brunswick and Attorney General Rowe and his wife and Majority Leader Saxl and his partner walked in Portland (and despite the pouring rain, they did the entire walk, too.) We also were encouraged that again this year, the Maine legislature passed a Joint Resolution declaring June 17th "Walk with the Ones You Love Day in Maine."

Special thanks to the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministry in Cleveland (and to Conference Minister Jean Alexander of North Yarmouth) for contributing $3,000 to help seed Walks outside of Maine.