The Courier-Gazette, June 15, 2000

A warm day in spring makes it a perfect time for a casual walk with your partner along the street, or maybe along the waterfront, the shoreline or through a park. Sounds like a rather simple, straightforward proposition, doesn't it? It's not if you are gay, lesbian, of some ethnic origins or possibly challenged either physically or mentally. In those circumstances, something like a walk can be impossible or simply dangerous.

A warm day in spring makes it a perfect time for a casual walk with your partner along the street, or maybe along the waterfront, the shoreline or through a park. Sounds like a rather simple, straightforward proposition, doesn't it? It's not if you are gay, lesbian, of some ethnic origins or possibly challenged either physically or mentally. In those circumstances, something like a walk can be impossible or simply dangerous.

This is a wonderful opportunity for people from every walk of life in Rockland to come together to celebrate the diversity that enriches our city. It is also an opportunity to stand up and declare your belief that no one should be afraid to walk anywhere in Rockland (or any other city or town in Maine) because of who they are or who they choose to have as a partner.

It is appropriate that this annual walk has been expanded into many more Maine communities, including Rockland. There have been unfortunate instances in Rockland where even the perception of someone being "different" has led to violence. It was only a couple of years ago that a young man was assaulted on Main Street because of the way he looked and the assumption that he was gay. To the credit of state and local authorities, the assailant was prosecuted under Maine's hate crime laws.

Supported by chiefs of police from across the state as well as the Maine Legislature and Goy. Angus King, who have proclaimed this Sunday as "Walk with the One You Love Day," the Rockland walk gives all of us the opportunity to publicly declare that everyone deserves the right to be who they are, love who they want and walk with whom they choose in the community without fear. The Rockland walk has also been endorsed by several churches.

As the state declaration reads, "the event is being held to foster greater appreciation for diversity and to make a strong, positive statement about the kind of community and state we want to live in and where all of us feel free to be ourselves in public without fear of harassment or violence, regardless of sexual orientation or any other difference."

What a truly great day in Maine it will be when such consciousness-raising walks are no longer necessary and all Maine people can simply choose to go for a stroll.