Question 1 on the Nov. 6 ballot is not about homosexuality, or even marriage.

It’s about civil rights.

It’s that simple. But opponents want you to think otherwise.

They say it’s about schools teaching kids how to be gay.

They say it’s about protecting business owners’ rights to serve whomever they wish.

They say it’s about protecting Biblical truth.

All of these concerns may be well intentioned, but they are in some cases untrue and, in others, miss the point of the question entirely.

Are we as a people going to continue to allow legal discrimination against others based on their gender, sexual orientation or marital status? Voting “yes” on 1 will speak loudly that Mainers will not.

A “yes” vote on Question 1 will allow same-sex couples to do in Maine what they can do in every New England state except Rhode Island, plus the District of Columbia: to obtain the same legal recognition, rights and privileges as any committed couple when it comes to end-of-life care, estate planning and income tax benefits.

Even Rhode Island allows civil unions, which offer broad legal protection short of marriage. Only Maine violates the vows of our gay and lesbian sons and daughters the second they return to their native state.

Taking opponents’ arguments one by one, it’s a cynical leap — if not an outright falsehood — to say Question 1 is about homosexuality in the schools. That’s just fear mongering, and not part of the discussion.

Regarding the ability of businesses and churches to continue to exercise their freespeech right to deny affiliation with samesex couples or services, Question 1 includes religious exceptions for churches. Existing federal civil rights law spells out clearly how to operate a business without being accused of discrimination. Nothing in this proposal changes any of that.

When it comes to invoking the Bible to set a standard for marriage, remember: Marriages are legal, not religious, instruments. And, we are a secular, modern society. Further, religious beliefs are not the same as legal standards; they vary from religion to religion. That’s why we are a nation of laws that apply to everyone equally.

One is free to abhor gay marriage, but not to deprive someone else of their right to pursue happiness, especially when that pursuit comes at the expense of no one and may actually be a net benefit to the state, as studies on specialty tourism suggest.

It’s particularly confusing to us that conservatives oppose Question 1. These are precisely the people who reflexively back the legal rights of individuals over the state, so it’s curious that limiting governmental power does not extend to the question of whom a citizen decides marry. Why put Uncle Sam between devoted adults?

Most Northeastern states have laws banning marriage discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens. Maine — whose motto, “I lead,” was proven in becoming the first state in the region to legalize same-sex vows back on May 6, 2009 — must not be an outlier in the path to civil rights.

Whatever one’s views on homosexuality, Mainers are fair-minded people who “live and let live.”

For many of us, gay and lesbian people are our friends, colleagues, brothers and sisters. None of us should tolerate measures that prohibit their pursuit of happiness or equal protection under the law.

That’s why we urge you to cast a “yes” vote on Question 1 next Tuesday.