Gay-rights advocates across the country are regrouping after a crushing defeat at the ballot box in Maine, pledging to continue their state-by-state effort to promote marriage equality and turn their attention to a federal court case in California.
On Tuesday, Maine became the 31st state to block same-sex marriage through a public referendum. Just over half the voters there voted to repeal a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, in effect canceling a marriage statute passed by the legislature in May and signed by Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat.
Gay-rights advocates had been optimistic about the Maine referendum, having collected more money, political support and volunteers than in other campaigns around the country. Polls leading up to the vote indicated a dead heat on Question 1, as the measure was known.
Courts and legislatures have made it possible for gays and lesbians to marry in five states, but Tuesday’s results mirror what has happened in every state where the question of same-sex marriage has gone before voters.
“I think the reality is that we came very close but didn’t succeed in dispelling the distractions and fears that are keeping a small slice of people from treating others fairly,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, a national gay-rights group.
Wolfson, as well as officials of other gay-rights groups, blamed opponents’ ad campaign for stoking voters’ fears.
The campaign against same-sex marriage in Maine drew heavily from a similar effort in California last year known as Proposition 8, a ballot measure that overturned the state’s Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. Maine voters were exposed to TV commercials, such as one featuring parents lamenting that their children were being taught about same-sex marriage in school, that were nearly identical to ads used in California.
For the gay-rights movement, the defeat is another blow to the long-held strategy of building the case for marriage equality state by state. Historically, the tactics have been to target places where conditions seem favorable, and Maine, characterized by its governor as a libertarian state, seemed to fit that criterion.
But advocates say the strategy remains effective. They point to Tuesday’s balloting in Kalamazoo, Mich., where voters approved an anti-discrimination ordinance that provides gays and lesbians protections in employment, housing and public accommodations.
Another victory appeared likely in Washington state, where incomplete returns indicate that a majority of voters have approved the legislature’s expansion of domestic-partnership rights.
Advocates say there was a partial victory even in Maine, where the vote was closer than in previous campaigns.
“We’re hopeful that it’s a signal that there is increasing support for gay couples to marry,” said Dan Hawes, field director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
