Less than a week before Maine voters decide whether to repeal the state's new same-sex marriage law, donations and volunteers are pouring in to sway what both sides call a nationally significant fight.

Supporters of the marriage law, which the Legislature approved in May, have far more money and ground troops than opponents, who have been led by the Roman Catholic Church. Yet most polls show the two sides neck and neck, suggesting that gay couples here, as in California last year, could lose the right to marry just six months after they gained it.

Although Maine's population is a tiny fraction of California's and the battle here has been comparatively low profile, it comes at a crucial point in the same-sex marriage movement. Still reeling from last year's defeat in California, gay-rights advocates say a defeat here could further a perception that only judges and politicians embrace same-sex marriage.


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