MEDWAY — Waitress Nikki York came to work at The Aerie Monday morning and discovered for the first time in her five years there that the pilot burner to the restaurant’s grill wouldn’t stay lit.
But that surprise was nothing, she said, compared to her shock at the front-page news of U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s announcement that he is gay.
“Oh my God!” York said, her eyes wide and right hand clapped over her open mouth as she stared at the Bangor Daily News.
She immediately walked across the otherwise empty dining room to her customers, retired mill workers Dick Waceken and Carla Boutaugh, who were doing all they could do in the temporarily oven-less eatery — drinking coffee.
“Guys,” she said, “did you see this?”
York’s response mirrored that of many Katahdin region residents interviewed Monday morning. Many said they had always known or had heard that the politician is gay, but many were surprised that he felt compelled to announce it.
It was, apparently, a sort of public secret: Something respected with silence or tact.
“I am glad that he finally did” come out, York said. “It’s not right that he can’t be who he is. I am glad that he doesn’t have to hold it back any more.”
Word usually travels fast in East Millinocket, and several workers ending the overnight shift the new Great Northern Paper Co. LLC mill seemed almost indifferent to the news.
“It really does not matter to me one way or the other. I am not biased,” said Paul Robbins, a foreman at FASTCO Corp. of Lincoln who was on his way into the mill to oversee portions of the mill’s efforts to convert to natural-gas burners.
“I think it’s all politics,” said another mill worker, this one on his way out for the day. The man, who declined to identify himself, said he didn’t like Michaud’s politics, describing Michaud as anti-mill and saying that Michaud “doesn’t do anything” for mill workers.
But he doubted that the announcement would have much effect on the race.
“People respect privacy around here,” said the man, who asked that his name not be used.
At the nearby Big Apple diner, responses to questions about Mike Michaud’s announcement were polite but sparse. People seemed to be still digesting the news. Some read with frowns on their faces.
A 70-year-old retiree from the Millinocket paper mill, Waceken said that he respected the Michaud family as hard workers, first and foremost. Michaud’s homosexuality, while known — “if somebody’s gay, it gets around fast” — never mattered much.
“We all knew Mike was gay,” Waceken said. “They still voted for him because he is from the area. And he’s an honest man.”
“I think I am anti-gay,” Waceken added, “I think I am. I think women should be with men and men should be with women, but I am still going to vote for Mike” despite, he said, having voted for Gov. Paul LePage in the last election.
LePage, he said, “fights with everybody. He fought with the unions, he fought with the Indians. Every time you turn around he’s in a fight with someone. LePage fumes and fumes and fumes but I don’t think he’s done very much.”
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