Thursday, November 05, 2009

never

based on an incomplete list of individual votes on question one, here are the towns in maine where i will never live:

anywhere in androscoggin county
baldwin
bridgton
casco
frye island
gray
harrison
naples
new gloucester
raymond
standish
windham
avon
carthage
chesterville
dallas plantation
eustis
industry
jay
kingfield
new sharon
new vineyard
rangeley
rangeley plantation
sandy river plantation
strong
temple
weld
wilton
amherst
aurora
bucksport
dedham
eastbrook
ellsworth
franklin
great pond
hancock
mariaville
orland
osborn
swans island
trenton
verona
waltham
winter harbor
*anywhere in kennebec county except hallowell, readfield, waterville, or wayne
appleton
cushing
friendship
owls head
south thomaston
thomaston
union
warren
dresden
jefferson
somerville
westport
whitefield
wiscasset
albany township
brownfield
buckfield
byron
canton
denmark
dixfield
gilead
greenwood
hanover
hartford
hebron
hiram
lincoln plantation
lovell
mexico
porter
roxbury
rumford
sumner
upton
west paris
waterford
woodstock
*anywhere in penobscot county except for bangor, veazie, penobscot nation, orono, or old town
*anywhere in piscataquis county at all, including milo
bowdoin
phippsburg
west bath
woolwich
*anywhere in somerset county except the forks plantation
belmont
brooks
burnham
frankfort
freedom
jackson
knox
liberty
monroe
morrill
palermo
prospect
searsmont
searsport
swanville
troy
unity
waldo
*anywhere in washington county except pleasant point
alfred
arundel
biddeford
buxton
cornish
hollis
limerick
limington
lyman
north berwick
newfield
sanford
shapleigh
waterboro
*anywhere in aroostook county

okay, yes, this is a bit obsessive of me, and in many of these towns nearly half of the residents voted the right way. but if i ever succumb to my not-so-secret occasional desire to live out in the woods somewhere, i want to end up in a town that (mostly) supports equality. there were some unpleasant discoveries here (i've always loved the sound of appleton, for example - so...apple-y. and what's up with the towns named things like freedom and liberty?), it was interesting to see where the good guys prevailed in huge numbers (e.g. the cranberry islands!). and of course what makes the most sense is to stay right where i am, a little city where 75 percent of voters are fair and smart and not homophobic.

8 comments:

David said...

I don't know, it may be worth considering a colonization effort since I think the problem with many of these areas is they just don't know (or know they know) gay people. You should listen to the latest radiolab: http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2009/10/19/new-normal/ especially the story about Stu, the mayor.

Liz Woodbury said...

i heard somewhere that it would takes something like 16,000 like-minded people moving into the state to make the difference! i will listen to the radiolab show right now. watch for my extra special google map tomorrow...

Anonymous said...

or FRIENDSHIP, for god's sake!
my dear friend barb (also crushed) lives on little cranberry...it's great news that the 75 or so year-rounders she lives with are also decent, kind people...
xo
holly

Liz Woodbury said...

i know, friendship. sigh.

mama said...

Don't live in Bangor! They voted yes! I think....

Liz Woodbury said...

no, they actually voted NO 54 to 45 percent!

Marissa L. Swinghammer said...

Hi! I followed a link on another blog here.

And while I hear you I have a slightly different opinion. Wouldn't it possibly be a good idea to put yourself in such communities in order to change minds? Instead of being around people that already are with you? I mean if the towns are already voting the way you want them to living there isn't going to help the future very much.

Not that I am suggesting that you actually move to any of these towns or at all. Just my thought on banning them completely. Especially if many of them are on the edge it might not take much to push them over to the other side. That is how democracy works. You convince people to vote one way or another instead of forcing them.

Liz Woodbury said...

i do think you're right, marissa! and the positive thing about looking at each town, at the specific numbers of people who voted each way, is how many people, even in the most remote parts of the state, voted to allow people of any sexual orientation to marry each other. it really was close.