EDGE Fire Island

A referendum on gay marriage in Washington state has qualified for the ballot.

Elections officials said Monday that approximately 1,000 of the nearly 250,000 signatures submitted to qualify a referendum on gay marriage in Washington state appear to be fraudulent.

Opponents of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law have delivered more than twice the number of signatures needed to put a referendum on the law on November’s ballot.

Anti-gay pundits point to claims that one man lost his job and another was subjected to a complaint as proof that gays intend to destroy traditional marriage and brutally silence any dissent from people of faith.

Maine’s campaign oversight board overruled a staff recommendation Thursday and authorized an investigation into fundraising by groups supporting the campaign to repeal the state’s gay marriage law in a Nov. 3 referendum.