With 87 percent of precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the vote in a referendum that asked Maine voters whether they wanted to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage that had passed the Legislature and was signed by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci.
“The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation,” said Frank Schubert, the chief organizer for Stand for Marriage Maine, which lobbied for the repeal.
For the gay rights movement, which has gained a foothold in New England, it was a stinging defeat. Gay marriage has now lost in every state – 31 in all – in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine, framing same-sex marriage as a matter of equality for all families in a campaign that used 8,000 volunteers to get out the message.
Five states have legalized gay marriage – Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut – but all did so through legislation or court rulings, not by popular vote.
While I support gay marriage, it’s hard to argue that I’m anything more than an outlier in that regard. When 31% of states reject something, that’s a loud voice that’s hard to ignore.
Gay marriage never wins a popular vote. Period. When people are given the opportunity to vote for it, they almost universally vote against it. That says a lot, to me, about the viability of the issue and how willing people are to change on it.
Maybe that’ll change in 2010 and beyond but one thing’s for sure: gay marriage isn’t going to happen in the voting booth.