So Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud came out on Sunday as a gay man in Maine, and America.

One might say “about time.” For many others, it’s “who cares?” Or one might say, as many Democrat s are, that coming out is an act of political courage.

Our take: Coming out now is an act of political expedience — nothing more.

Michaud had evidence that he was about to be outed, possibly by one or both of his opponents’ campaigns. So he made the politically … uh … correct choice and decided to out himself.

But Michaud has a curious voting record on gay-rights issues, one that can’t be explained away by an “evolving position” on the issue — as his record on abortion has been explained.

Michaud didn’t “evolve” to be a gay man. He evolved to be a political animal.

In 2007, he voted against a bill he himself had sponsored that would have banned discrimination against gay and lesbians in the workplace. He says he did it because it didn’t protect transgendered people as much as he would have liked. The House dropped the transgender language, but the bill died in the Senate. It never again got the traction it would have needed to pass.

If it had passed, it might have been able to be amended today to include transgendered persons. But we’ll never know.

The 2013 version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is up for a cloture vote in the Senate this week, but it likely won’t even be called for a vote in the House.

Michaud also would have shown political courage if he had spoken out in 2009 on the people’s veto that repealed a gay marriage law enacted by the Legislature.

He would have shown political courage if he had hit the campaign trail vigorously for Question 1 last year, which finally made gay marriage legal in Maine after a tumultuous, years-long and emotionally costly fight.

The majority of people who voted against that referendum came from Michaud’s district. But speaking out too strongly might have affected his reelection chances in the Second Congressional District. Courage?

We have no doubt Michaud’s sexuality isn’t an issue when considering his ability to lead the state. It likely won’t have an effect on the election itself, either, if his opponents are smart and stick to their conciliatory statements made yesterday.

But we object to the idea that his choosing to make his sexuality known now — just ahead of the whisper campaign — is an act of political courage.

It is not.