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Election Results: Maine Loses, Washington State Wins
I'm afraid it's mixed news tonight for gay folks in the U.S. as voters in Maine — where the blatantly anti-gay Catholic church lobbied intensely against gay-marriage — stripped gays and lesbians in that state of the right to marry. Meanwhile in Washington state, the recently passed "everything but marriage" domestic partner law has been called in favor of pro-gay forces. I happen to live in Washington state and for many reasons, opponents were never able to gain much traction in trying to repeal the law. In other positive news, Kalamazoo, Michigan voted to uphold that city's anti-discrimination law while Chapel Hill, North Carolina elected a gay mayor and in Houston, Texas, lesbian mayoral candidate Gena Locke advanced to a run-off to be that city's next mayor. Submitted by on Wed, 2009-11-04 01:41. |
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Thanks from Maine
I just want to say on behalf of everyone from Maine, the outpouring of support from around this country throughout the entire campaign has been humbling and amazing.
Thank you all.
-John
I would vent, but it's all been said before
I would vent, but it's all been said before. sadly, i had a feeling it would turn out this way.
oh well. I guess we just keep...fighting or something.
It's mind-boggling
My heart goes out to all the gay men and women of Maine. I just can't conceive of a system that puts people's rights up for a vote and then have an electorate that is so willing to denigrate their fellow men and women.
I just don't understand what moral, ethical or human satisfaction those people get out of making people they pass on the street every day second-class citizens.
I thought that the idea of apartheid died out when South Africa reformed itself. But in places like California and Maine there are so many people who wouldn't be out of place in 1970s downtown Johannesburg.
I don't know whether to hate those people or be incredibly, painfully and massively sorry for them. On so many levels, they're just unevolved.
Maine
The system of "checks and balances" was put in place in Maine to guard against the politicians attempting to put in place a law that the majority is not in favor of.
In this case it worked - to stop a law that was approved by a couple of hundred politicians back in the Spring. Over 500,000 citizens of Maine voted yesterday (almost half the state's population) and a majority decided that it did not want the law that these few put in place. In fact 75% of the counties in Maine decided that they did not approve of this law.
This law was NEVER in put into use in Maine - it was put ON HOLD until the population could be asked whether it was something that they really wanted.
In this case it was not, just as TABOR was not.
It is something that was not "taken away" as it was never in place.
Hopefully the politicians take note that this is the will of the population and do not attempt it again. The Govenor does not care as he cannot run again this year.
Leave it up to the "No On 1" folks to go out and get the petitions signed and get it on the next election. It is a lot of work and our poiticians forced the "Yes on 1" folks to spend a lot of time and money to get the vote on yesterday's ballot.
"No on 1" - go for it!
SINCE WHEN SHOULD LAW BE DECIDED BY POPULAR VOTE?
Common Sense
Maine voters use something called "common sense."
Actually 2 "tax" referendums were voted down yesterday because common sense indicated that they were going to cause other problems.
Yes on 1 won because 75% of the counties of Maine knew that the outcome would cause other problems in our society.
It is a good check on politicians that sometimes think they are exempt from being "called on the carpet."
They were called on the carpet on the "same-sex" law they tried to put thru AFTER the election last year and it failed before it was allowed to be enacted.
The "law" in Maine allowing citizens to do this is great and is used in many other states too. We are not the only place.
Thank God and than the common sense of our citizens that this ability to recall a law before it causes more problems exists.
Passage of time
This is the boggling part
Maineyeson1 you seem to think that the system worked. Clearly it didn't. One group of people have made another group of people second class. This should never be celebrated in a civilised society. There is nothing common-sensical about it. In fact, it's anathema to common sense that a society should actually vote to divide itself.
If you don't understand this, then I don't know how to explain it to you - except to point to people like my father who fought in the Second World War against people who held the view that whole sections of their community should be regarded as lesser. Or I could point to my uncle - who's an Indian from South Africa. He and my Irish aunt and my cousins all experienced apartheid first hand. Apartheid is never pretty.
What happened in Maine and California goes against everything that makes a society strong. People voted to divide themselves. That's crazy
It's not even a gay-rights issue. Please point to a successful society anywhere on the globe where legally sanctioned inequality works. In fact, the history of the Western world shows that when we get rid off inequality, the more successful we become.
Through your use of the phrase 'checks and balances' and and other poinhts you've made, I'm inferring that you somehow think this vote was an exercise in democracy. It's not. If we go back to Aristotle who made the idea of 'democracy' popular, what happened in Maine was actually an exercise in 'ochlocracy' - that's the phrase Aristotle came up with to describe mob rule. By it's nature, mob rule can never be democratic. Just look at the word itself. Demos means the people - it means all of the people. It doesn't mean just a majority.
But you know this already. Your own Constitution and its many ammendments state that a majority should never diminish a minority. No matter how you look at this, what happened in Maine is undemocratic and anti-Constitutional. I know that's a difficult idea to comprehend, but it's the truth nonetheless.
Nothing good happened in Maine. In years to come, schoolkids will be in history lessons trying to understand what the people of Maine thought they were doing.
And they'll probably be as mystified by it as I am now.
No tears...
This was not a mixed election
It was an absolute disaster!
Solidly anti-gay governors won in New Jersey and Virginia. New Jersey, despite it's small size, is one of the most populous states so the effect is not trivial and it is a HUGE win for the Republicans. Virginia was likely to skew GOP anyway, but they are also one of the worst states in regards to their treatment of gay people, a state of affairs that is now very unlikely to change anytime soon.
Maine is a horrific tragedy and our retaliation needs to be as vicious as possible. Any gays and gay allies in the media need to hammer the Catholic Church with any verifiable incidents relating to child molestation, financial malfeasance and anything else dirty that they do. They need to be dragged through the mud and soiled as much as possible. One big problem we have always faced is that we play nice while our opponents play dirty.
We also need to be mindful that this will embolden our foes. It is absolutely proven that marriage equality can reliably be eliminated by popular vote, a fact that will provide lots of motivation to right-wing grassroots activists. I have said for years (and been viciously flamed for) that we cannot underestimate the power of the electorate. Theres is nothing courts and legislatures can give us that cannot be taken away at the ballot box. No, it's not fair. But nobody ever said democracy was fair to everybody that lives under it.
So now what? Well, it's pretty obvious that Obama took a pounding too. Now we need to force him and the Democrats to decide where they stand. If they want our votes in 2010 they cannot stand back and be passive during these kinds of fights. If they want our support then they must support us!
Because otherwise what difference does it make if it's a Republican or Democrat administration and we still get our rights denied to us?
I wish we would play dirty.
The thing is that the
The thing is that the Catholic Church (and most churches/religions, and groups) has all these tactics but everyone turns a blind eye. If the gay community does anything remotely controversial we get pounded and labeled some pretty nasty terms. We're forced to play nice to show people we aren't a threat to family and children and life, but that's inefficient and not going to lead us anywhere. ::sigh::
It's always going to be lopsided =/
i will gladly play dirty...
i will gladly play dirty. hell, i was just saying to someone "one day, we're all gonna snap and i am going to just stand by and watch it unfold before me..."
there is only so much people can take. i am surprised after prop 8 passed, there weren't any riots or anything.
Embrace love and marry today I say!
We can all agree this should not have been on the ballot to begin with. With that said...
The Maine effort was one where we took the lessons learned from California 2008 and applied them well. The organization worked well, the money flowed at the right times, the message was on point and consistent as well as personalized, the governor was 100% behind this, and the rapid response was there. I am sure there are field effort mistakes that need improvement but what else could have been done?
What we have really learned here is what California 2008 also told us, the choice here is really close to parity in terms of electoral support and electoral opposition. We must invest at both a national, local, and neighborhood level to change the minds of our fellow Americans. Does it suck that people voted against us? OF COURSE! But we again must do is continue with the message Maine had of families deserving the safety of marriage equality. Unfortunately, this sounds like we have to go around and prove ourselves to our neighbors who shouldn't be judging us anyway. However, the power of humanization is important. We must be our own advocates, come out, and show people that there are gay and lesbian families. It is only by exposure do we win; it is only by vigilence that we prevail.
I know its easy to get angry, call it bigotry (and yes I have done it too), and say that we are going to move out of this town/county/state. But what we must do is practice the true tenents of civil disobedience by showing ourselves to be "next door" and be our best advertisement for equality. Hopefully, so court or legislative action will help our cause soon, but in the meantime and in the future we must keep up the fight and use ourselves as the tv commercial/radio ad/newspaper editorial/door-to-door outreach/ phone canvass/brochure to our neighborhoods and beyond.
I say that all of you who are in long-term relationships and have been putting off marriage because it isn't legal where you are, get up out of that chair and find a state that will do it! Plan your perfect day and don't let anyone get in the way of your happiness. Go to one of the 5 states where it is legal and marry! Once you have celebrated together and with loved ones, tell your neighbors and be open about who you are and that you are together. Live life and frame that certificate in your front room. We should reward the states who support us. We create a pool of out-of-staters that can't be ignored by shear numbers. And we tell everyone that its legal. If we keep waiting for a census count or a court case or a ballot initative, we aren't really taking the true step to say "We did it!" Embrace love and marry today I say!
Democracy is truly us, and it is we that will win.
-----------------------------------------------------------
If I bring out the devil in you, he was there all along!
Legally married Sept 18, 2009. Wedded Oct 10,2009.
"Visibility matters"
Beyond Irritated.
Last year about this time after Propositiion 8 was passed in California, I was filled with more anger and rage than I can ever remember feeling. Now, it's happened again. If I think about it too much it makes me a little nuts. The idea that two straight people can meet each other for the first time in a place like Las Vegas and get married hours later and that after they do their marriage will be recognized by the federal government and every state in this country is beyond insane. It's beyond insane because a gay or lesbian couple that have been together for years and tries to get married in most of this country are turned away or literally told it's against the law.
Maybe it's time that we stop recognizing their marriages if they can't recognize ours and literally take away our right to marry.
Where was President Obama the supposed agent of "change". Neither he nor the top leadership of the Democratic Party made any attempt to campaign against this issue. As has been said in recent months, "Yes We Can" has morphed into "No You Can't" especially if you are gay or lesbian or want some form of national health care.
I for one am tired of colluding with a heteroworld that does not value me for the contributions that I and my Kindred (all gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders) make to it every day of our lives.
Another cynical point of view
As disappointing as this loss is, I’m afraid I have to say that Marriage Equality will never be granted through the ballot box until “The Greatest Generation” dies off. (And that includes several current justices on the Supreme Court – so don’t look to the Courts for redress on this either.) They are too afraid of change, and turn out in larger numbers for voting.
I also fear that the generation right behind them will also need to be thinned before we can vote for our right successfully. Which is ironic considering the generation after “The Greatest” gave us Woodstock and the summer of love, but age does something to you and makes you cling to what was instead of embracing what should be.
Loss in Maine
It's moments like this that I'm proud to be a Canadian...so happy we dealt with this (as a nation) 6 years ago and are moving forward--thereby demonstrating the sky truly will not fall. But if we can do it, so can you--so look northward for inspiration!
I have walked the road with no deviation (always innocent)--Luba
Loss in Maine
I was just sick when I saw this. This sanctity of marriage BS that people are spouting really ticks me off, If they want to preserve the "sanctity" of marriage then we should be voting on ALL marriages, like the one of Britney Spears that lasted for 55 hours! We should also outlaw divorce! I mean talk about not upholding the sanctity of marriage, it galls me to no end! I think we should all move to Canada where we can get married and take our TAX DOLLARS with us! that would send a message to these A** holes that keep voting against marriage for same sex couples and to the government that we arent going to take this second class treatment.
"LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" Mame Dennis Burnside - Auntie Mame 1958
Heartsick over Maine No on1 loss
Slightly over half of them just did exactly that, again.
The simple fact is that some of the coworkers I like and respect, some of the neighbors I've had over for dinner, some of the family and friends I've known for decades, and all of whom I think support my relationship with my partner of 15 years, would, in the privacy of the voting booth, deny us equal rights and status.
Tomorrow, I'll renew my focus on marriage equality in New York. Tomorrow, I'll remember that almost 1/2 of the voters in Maine and California supported full marriage equality, something unthinkable even 10 years ago. Tomorrow, I'll take some comfort on being on the right side of history, whether or not it happens in my lifetime.
Today, though, I just feel like crying.
having a hard time figuring out what more we can do...
ya know what? I am having a hard time figuring out what more we can do.
the tv ads don't work. door to door doesn't work. shit, coming out doesn't work.
what the hell will? i'm already thinking "screw it. i am exhausted" and it's not like i have had the chance to vote for such an issue anyway. I know i am not the only one who feels this way. *starting to feel snappy*
I desperately want to ask someone "well, why should interracial couples be allowed to marry or why should we NOT have segregation?"
..and before anyone screams "this isnt even close to the race issue" then i am gonna scream back "that's bullshit, because it's neither about race nor being gay. it's about FREAKING. EQUAL. RIGHTS!!!! CIVIL RIGHTS.
oh look. i have snapped. that's my cue to get going before i get even uglier on this issue.
Understand completely
Maybe frame it as religions having special rights
If you are a tax-exempt institution, you should not be meddling in _civil_ marriage. Ok, what is to stop Mormons from pushing a proposition forbidding women to remarry or Catholics a ballot question requiring premarital counseling- practices in their religious marriages forced on all?
Unpopular sentiment
I dont think gay pride...
I dont think gay pride or our behavior has anything to do with this issue.
even the anti-gay marriage crowd doesn't bring that into their debate. their main arguments are "homosexuality will be taught in school" and that 'traditional' marriage will be ruined. that's pretty much all they say.
by the way, was anyone taught about marriage in general during school?
aside from learning who our presidents wives were....but not even that was really a lesson.
whatever
In private schools
Liz T,
I went to a private school, a Catholic one if you want to know, and yes they did teach about marriage. Matter of fact, there was a class called Marriage & Family and one class project was, as you probably are getting the picture, partnering a guy and girl for two weeks. We worked on our budget, housing, etc. To top if off, there was even a mock wedding ceremony. Please don't laugh but this was the 80s.
Nanite, I don't think I'm suffering the victim mentality. I'm probably saying what's on the minds of a lot of gays and lesbians out there. But I digress.
Blame the Victim
My response to the election debacle
I decided to get creative and do something positive by making a video that celebrates the love between two men (some of it might be considered NSFW):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb1kqw_men-in-love_gaylesbian
Great Job
I don't understand...
why two person(same-sex couple) in love and it hardly for them to get married .And what i really confused was about the human rights thing.when the country leader always saying that the other countries human rights are bad But now what we saw today was a joke.(Giving a right to people to vote other people whom wanna get married .(isn't marriage is a personal thing?)because they are gays & lesbians people,so they don't have a right to marry in the state.???)is this what we called a human rights?although i'm living far from halfway around the world,but i feel sadly everytime when the states open for voting because of regarding gays people things .
There are still many stick-in-the-mud people in this country.(maybe what i thought about this country for the past was wrong.(i always thought that this country people are open-minded then other countries.)
LOVE IS A WONDERFUL THING WHEREVER YOU ARE BLACK OR WHITE
GAY OR STRAIGHT
* _ *