Jean Hay Bright | Not all Carrots are Straight

Not all Carrots are Straight

October 1993

LEWISTON - Jean Hay, a 2nd District congressional candidate who has made equal rights a cornerstone of her campaign, took her organization to Androscoggin County over the weekend to help support Equal Protection Lewiston, the grass roots organization working to protect the rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in that city.

The Blue Hill Democrat, her campaign manager, David Martucci, and a number of her supporters joined a citywide, door-to-door effort to distribute literature urging voters there to keep in place the city's landmark anti-discrimination ordinance.

Hay, an organic farmer who has also worked as a newspaper reporter and as an aide to 1st District Congressman Tom Andrews, said diversity is normal in nature.

"If the only carrots you know are store-bought carrots, you might think that all carrots are straight," Hay said, "but we've grown, bagged, and sold more than 40 tons of carrots over the last decade, and from my experience two to 10 percent of any crop are not straight.

"If that kind of diversity is good enough for God, it's good enough for me."

Lewiston is one of the few municipalities in Maine which has passed its own equal rights ordinance designed to protect the rights of homosexuals in matters of housing, access to public facilities, employment, and credit, but an effort to repeal it has been mounted. Equal Protection Lewiston was formed to fight the repeal and urge voters to keep the ordinance in place.

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Not all Carrots are Straight October 1993 LEWISTON - Jean Hay, a 2nd District congressional candidate who has made equal rights a cornerstone of her campaign, took her organization to Androscoggin County over the weekend to help support Equal Protection Lewiston, the grass roots organization working to protect the rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in that city. The Blue Hill Democrat, her campaign manager, David Martucci, and a number of her supporters joined a citywide, door-to-door effort to distribute literature urging voters there to keep in place the city's landmark anti-discrimination ordinance. Hay, an organic farmer who has also worked as a newspaper reporter and as an aide to 1st District Congressman Tom Andrews, said diversity is normal in nature. "If the only carrots you know are store-bought carrots, you might think that all carrots are straight," Hay said, "but we've grown, bagged, and sold more than 40 tons of carrots over the last decade, and from my experience two to 10 percent of any crop are not straight. "If that kind of diversity is good enough for God, it's good enough for me." Lewiston is one of the few municipalities in Maine which has passed its own equal rights ordinance designed to protect the rights of homosexuals in matters of housing, access to public facilities, employment, and credit, but an effort to repeal it has been mounted. Equal Protection Lewiston was formed to fight the repeal and urge voters to keep the ordinance in place. :: back to top