Maine Voters Undo Gay Marriage Law
Voters' stunning repeal of Maine's same-sex marriage law is forcing gay rights advocates to regroup and recalibrate their strategy. Legal experts say if other social movements are a guide, it should also teach them to be patient.
"Every time people have had an opportunity to vote, they've voted it down," said University of Chicago law professor Gerald Rosenberg. "Is the [Supreme Court] really going to step in here?"
On Tuesday, Maine became the 31st state where voters rejected marriage equality for gay couples through a referendum. The defeat -- the first time the vox populi reversed a decision by its own elected representatives -- took gay advocates by surprise.
Their side outspent, outcanvassed and outmaneuvered their foes, only to lose in the most politically friendly region of the country. Except for Iowa, every state with same-sex marriage is in New England. Since 2004, when a court in Massachusetts became the first to sanction gay marriage, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire have decided through judicial or legislative action to allow same-sex couples to marry.
"It just goes to show that even in a very, very liberal state like Maine where the Legislature and the governor came out and supported it, when people have a chance to affirm traditional marriage, they do it. Thirty-one out of 31 states," said former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a social conservative. "While there are many politicians who are going to push this, the people are not accepting of it."
Voters in Washington state approved a measure to give gay couples all the rights and benefits of marriage without the name, but gay activists have prevailed most often in the courts. It was a decision by the California Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage there that sparked last November's Proposition 8 ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage after more than 18,000 gay and lesbian couples had legally tied the knot.
The votes on Proposition 8 and in Maine are the latest examples of popular backlash when judges are viewed as out of the mainstream.
See Chick's DOOM TOWN.
"Every time people have had an opportunity to vote, they've voted it down," said University of Chicago law professor Gerald Rosenberg. "Is the [Supreme Court] really going to step in here?"
On Tuesday, Maine became the 31st state where voters rejected marriage equality for gay couples through a referendum. The defeat -- the first time the vox populi reversed a decision by its own elected representatives -- took gay advocates by surprise.
Their side outspent, outcanvassed and outmaneuvered their foes, only to lose in the most politically friendly region of the country. Except for Iowa, every state with same-sex marriage is in New England. Since 2004, when a court in Massachusetts became the first to sanction gay marriage, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire have decided through judicial or legislative action to allow same-sex couples to marry.
"It just goes to show that even in a very, very liberal state like Maine where the Legislature and the governor came out and supported it, when people have a chance to affirm traditional marriage, they do it. Thirty-one out of 31 states," said former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a social conservative. "While there are many politicians who are going to push this, the people are not accepting of it."
Voters in Washington state approved a measure to give gay couples all the rights and benefits of marriage without the name, but gay activists have prevailed most often in the courts. It was a decision by the California Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage there that sparked last November's Proposition 8 ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage after more than 18,000 gay and lesbian couples had legally tied the knot.
The votes on Proposition 8 and in Maine are the latest examples of popular backlash when judges are viewed as out of the mainstream.
See Chick's DOOM TOWN.
posted by chickcomics | 11:15 AM
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