A few days ago, Maine became the next state to approve same-sex marriage. This is obviously a great thing, but the first quote I read from the governor who signed it into law, Governor John Baldacci, is this (from a New York Times article about it):

“It’s not the way I was raised and it’s not the way that I am. [...] But at the same time I have a responsibility to uphold the Constitution. That’s my job, and you can’t allow discrimination to stand when it’s raised to your level.

Why, at such an important moment in Maine’s (and America’s) history, does he have to add the caveat that “it’s not the way I was raised”? What, he wasn’t raised to be gay? Is anybody? Or was he not raised to approve of gay marriage, or homosexuality in general?

At the very least it was a cowardly way for him to save face with his anti-gay supporters, but I also find this to be a really immature way to define your beliefs. My parents had a lot to do with who I am and I appreciate everything that they did to make me the person that I am today, but I would never defend my beliefs because they’re the beliefs I was raised with. Today I believe in something because it’s what I believe as the adult that I have become, where on a regular basis I still question my own beliefs and change them based on my life experiences.

This is the same poor excuse that Carrie Prejean, Miss California, threw out when she was asked about her beliefs about gay marriage during the Miss USA pageant, after Vermont legalized it. I found it really embarrassing for her to constantly repeat, even in interviews after the show, that this is just not how she was raised. If she was raised around racist family members, would this excuse her racism? Would she still be the victim here?