Larry Lockman, free speech and fairness

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    By now many of you are aware of the major dust-up between the Maine Democratic Party and State Rep. Larry Lockman of Amherst.
    Recently Bangor Daily News blogger Mike Tipping unearthed some rather bizarre beliefs espoused by Lockman back in the 1980s about homosexuality, income taxes and abortion.

    While some redneck males might make such wisecracks during happy hour at the neighborhood bar, Lockman — who used to live in Seboeis Plantation — put his thoughts in writing to a much wider audience. Once in a while, even I’d read them and mumble “You’ve got to be kidding.”
    Lockman’s visibility increased somewhat when he became the chairman of Concerned Maine Families about 15 years ago when the “threat” of gay rights first loomed.
    I admit I was surprised when he was elected to the Maine House. A simple Google search would have revealed enough red flags to make me think twice before I checked the box next to his name. And I’ve voted for candidates in every party including the Greens.
    So why were Lockman’s skeletons dragged out of the closet after 25 or 30 years? I’m guessing that someone tipped off Tipping right after Lockman joined 26 other Republicans and rattled House Speaker Mark Eves’ cage again.
    The GOP stalwarts felt that Eves, a strong promoter of MaineCare expansion, had a conflict of interest because of his off-season employment as business development director for Sweetser, a mental health management firm.
    Sweetser gets most of its funding from MaineCare and Medicare, but Eves maintains that an expansion of the program won’t put another dime in his pocket. The Maine Ethics Commission agreed.
    In November, Lockman also wrote a letter to the editor blasting the Democratic leadership who “voted in lockstep to kill a bill that would have helped victims of the human sex trade.”
    More correctly, the bill didn’t make the initial cut among the 100 (out of 400 submitted) that were carried forward for the special session. Eventually, however, the bill was resurrected and is now before the Judiciary Committee for further review.
    So, basically Lockman is high on the Democrats’ hit list.
    But I do think it’s ironic that so many advocates of free speech are now dragging someone over the coals for exercising that same right 15 or 20 years ago.
    Lockman may be disagreeable to some, but apparently liked by enough people to be elected to office. He also says he’s mellowed in recent years and wishes no harm to anyone, even those whose lifestyle he disagrees with.
    But it’s not up to us to judge Lockman’s fitness for office. Only the voters of House District 30 can make that decision and it will be interesting to see the outcome.
    But he’s lucky in one respect. He’s not running against Mark Eves.
    Mike Lange is a staff writer with the Piscataquis Observer. His opinions are his own and don’t necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.