OLYMPIA, Wash. — Opponents of gay marriage have an unblemished track record in U.S. elections, chalking up 32 victories in 32 public votes.
They’ve won in blue states and red ones, among the most heavily religious areas and among the least-churched. North Carolina punctuated the winning streak just last month by comfortably approving a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions.
Gay marriage supporters are optimistic that they can end their losing ways this year, with four states voting on the issue in November. They’re particularly encouraged by the prospects in Washington and Maine. Meanwhile opponents have taken steps to maintain their unflawed record and believe their side will be motivated to hold the status quo.
Here are five reasons why same-sex marriage proponents have a decent shot at success in 2012:
WASHINGTON: Officials certified a gay marriage referendum on Tuesday, meaning Washingtonians will decide the issue this fall. Voters upheld an “everything but marriage” law in a similar referendum vote three years ago, approving it by a 53-47 margin. That was the first time that a state’s voters had agreed to extend relationship rights to same-sex couples. It expanded benefits including the right to use sick leave to care for a domestic partner, and rights related to adoption, child custody and child support. Lawmakers comfortably approved gay marriage earlier this year as political leaders such as Gov. Chris Gregoire talked about how their views on the issue had changed. However gay marriage opponents are not conceding anything yet. National groups have promised time and money to fight Washington’s new same-sex marriage law via the referendum, including the Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for Marriage, which was involved in ballot measures that overturned same-sex marriage in California and Maine.
REPUBLICANS: Six Republican lawmakers in Washington voted in favor of the gay marriage legislation, and a leading GOP candidate for attorney general also declared his support. Republican Rep. Maureen Walsh, who represents conservative territory in eastern Washington anchored by Walla Walla, said she believes opinions on the issue are changing even there. “My district is far more receptive to it than they’ve ever been in the past,” she said.
POLLS: A recent poll conducted by consulting firm Strategies 360 found that 54 percent of likely Washington voters think it should be legal for same-sex couples to get married, though the survey didn’t specifically ask them how they’ll vote on Referendum 74. Public support nationally has also been increasing steadily, though both sides of the gay marriage issue have indicated caution with opinion polls on this issue, noting that some may say one thing in surveys but vote another way on an emotionally charged issue. And same-sex marriage opponents point to their many victories at the ballot box in previous elections.
MAINE: Maine voters rejected gay marriage three years ago by a 53-47 margin, and activists have been working over the past two years to change voter opinions. They believe there are positive trends, especially since several of the states that have legal same-sex marriage are New England neighbors — New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. The Legislature in New Hampshire, now controlled by Republicans, considered repealing that state’s gay marriage law this year but ultimately rejected that effort.
OBAMA: President Barack Obama’s recent declaration of support for gay marriage was celebrated as a key endorsement among gay rights groups. He remains comparatively popular in Washington, with 53 percent approving of his work and 43 percent disapproving, according to the Strategies 360 poll. Obama’s image and statement has been prominently displayed on the website of those trying to sustain the gay marriage law. David Farmer, who is leading efforts to legalize gay marriage in Maine, said Obama’s statement galvanized supporters and also echoed the views of people on the fence. “The way he talked about his evolution is very similar to what we see people talking about when we go to door-to-door,” Farmer said. But foes of gay marriage in Washington think the president’s support could backfire. Joseph Backholm, with Preserve Marriage Washington, has said Obama’s endorsement “will galvanize and energize our folks.”
Yup!
It’s time to end the special rights for heterosexuals and allow marriage equality for all!!
We’re not talking about someone who was born black, or brown or red or was born with a handicap or had an accident or illness that could limit them. We are talking about people who want to have ‘special’ treatment because they choose the gay lifestyle.
People are not born gay. It’s not natural – The bible describes it as a choice.
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. ” (Rom 1:26-27).
Note the words “against nature”, “unseemly”(not good), “their error”. It’s a perverted choice and it is an error.
You don’t know for a fact that people aren’t born gay. And by the way, if you’re straight…don’t act as if you know what it’s like to be gay. I am gay, and I can tell you from experience, my same-gender attractions are not a choice. How could they be?
How I live my life is a choice and I choose not to be shoved into the closet by people like you who refuse to recognize reality. “Special” treatment is that afforded to some at the exclusion of others. When it comes to marriage, it’s the straight people who get the special treatment.
Being religious is a choice. Quoting biblical nonsense is a choice. Sexual attraction? Not so much.
Biblical nonsense is an oxymoron.
Biblical sense is an oxymoron
If Gays are allowed to marry what will be next? Parents allowed to marry their biological children or animals. Gay marriage must be outlawed for the abomination that it is and what the future holds for this country.
If women are given the right to vote, what next? Children voting? Their pets?!
Slippery slope is not an argument, sorry.
Please do not disrespect the GLBT community by comparing the to incest or bestiality.
You do realize how ignorant your statement sounds?
Yeah, like I CHOSE to be attracted to other boys while those other boys were chasing girls in grade school.
Stop the anti-Christian bigotry.
As soon as they stop the homosexual bigotry
LMAO…Yes, and all you need to do is look at your profile http://www.disqus.com/sonofbangor to see the kind of bigotry you support.
All he/she cares about is hating on the gays! “the lady doth protest too much”
The bible is a work of fiction, and the fairy tales in it have no place in an intelligent discussion about civil rights and discrimination. Sexual orientation is not a choice any more than being left-handed is (another “mark of the devil” persecuted by the church until not all that many years ago). Keep your religion in your church where it belongs, and keep it out of my government.
Your government? — One day you will be held accountable to that ‘work of fiction’ you rail against. Does your hatred for God and Christians come from the inner knowledge that one day you will held accountable for all you done?
LOL, so you get to call that hatred but when you deny equal rights to your neighbors that’s just a difference of opinion? What a joke.
My guess is that it doesn’t come from such knowledge. I bet it’s for other reasons…
Denying someone equal rights is not a loving thing to do, so I’d be careful who I accuse of hating.
Why would I hate something that doesn’t exist? I don’t hate the tooth fairy, or leprechauns, or unicorns either. I base my life on reality, not fiction. You would be well advised to do likewise.
Sodom and Gomorrah is fiction?
Better check with the archaeologists on that one!
Sure, cite your sources showing a city incinerated by fire and brimstone 2000+ years ago.
….
Homosexuality is wrong the Bible says so. When God says it that ends the argument. You better be careful about saying such things about the Bible. God does not take kindly to it. Rev 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. “
You can threaten me all you like with your fairy tales, they still won’t come true. People have used that book to “prove” that their cause was just on both sides of so many wars you can’t keep track of them all. There is absolutely no intelligent reason to think that anything beyond the most general historical accounts contained within it are remotely related to reality. I don;t know about you, but I live in the real world. Reality plays a significant role. Mythology is not relevant.
The Bible states many things as true that we know aren’t.
You’re coming across as extremely judgmental.
When the homosexuals attacked Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah, guess what they said?
“Who are you to judge us?”
It’s a story. Do you believe that Paul Bunyan was 50 feet tall, and had a giant blue ox? And that’s a story that’s less than 200 years old.
Also, let’s not forget that in the story you’re quoting, Lot offered his own virgin daughters up to a crowd of rapists. Not exactly a moral story.
We are talking about people that were born with a different sexual orientation. I agree that it shouldn’t limit us, but thanks to people like you, we don’t have equal rights. Several studies suggest a variety of factors. Nearly all of which, occur within the womb. In fact, new and ongoing research led by Andrea Comperio Ciani, at the University of Padova in Italy, suggests a direct genetic link. I’m sorry, but I am more apt to believe modern science over a book, written over 2000 years ago, that condemns people to death for things as simple as eating shellfish, rounding your hair cuts, working on Sunday, defending your husband, and so on. The only thing perverted here is your opinion people that could very well be your neighbors, colleagues, or friends. We are worth dieing for our country, but we aren’t worth a marriage license?
The authority for your opinion is another man. The Authority for my statements is the Bible, God’s Word. You have a misunderstanding about the Old Testament. The Old Testament laws were mainly written to the Jews. It was how God dealt with them under the Old Testament dispensation. Today we are under the New Testament. Christ has come, fulfilled the law and made Himself a sacrifice for our sin. Salvation is by grace through faith in Him alone. You can be saved and delivered and forgiven of Homosexuality. You will first have to acknowledge your sin though.
Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mark 2:17. You can’t be saved if you don’t even know you are lost!
Fiction. Might as well believe in Harry Potter.
I agree with what you say about the old testament. However, many so-called Christians like to use it against us, whether it was directed towards Jews or not. There was no misunderstanding. Just seems like another way of cherry-picking verses of the bible you want to believe and follow. Personally, I don’t believe in any God, so I don’t have to worry about being condemned for something I did not choose or cannot control. You are entitled to your religious opinion, but that should not decide my rights under the law. I am not trying to force my spirituality on you, and I would appreciate the same courtesy. Would you want my spirituality or morals to define your civil rights? I doubt it. I don’t need to be saved if I was never “lost” in the first place. I don’t know about you, but I was born with my sexual orientation, and I am proud of the man I have become.
Yada, yada, yada…
Religious people are always saying ‘it isn’t my place to judge, God will do that.’ Yet, this only seems to be your reply when a questions is asked that you don’t want to answer. And other times you use the bible as your crutch to judge whomever you wish. Make up your mind.
Gay marriage. Straight marriage. You still have to find someone who’ll have you for better or for worse.
I didn’t see the recent decisions of Federal Judges in Ma, NY, and Ca ruling that DOMA as unconstitutional mentioned above.
I have one reason it will fail, again – It is wrong, flat out wrong.
There are millions of people who disagree with you. A growing number of countries allow same-sex marriage.
The tide of opinion on this topic is turning in our favor. More and more people each day are realizing that treating gays as equals is the right thing to do.
Unfortunately for the SSM cause those people don’t live and vote in Maine. Mainer’s know this change in the law is wrong and will say so at the polls in November.
There are thousands of gay people and gay couples in Maine. Obviously.
I was born in Maine, I live in Maine, I have lived in Maine all my life. My family on both sides, came here before, the revolution. So, I’m just about as Maine, as you can get. I will vote yes, My republican father, I believe will vote yes, I don’t much like people who use religion as a crutch, but it’s not my right to keep you from doing so. Just as you have on right to keep gay form getting married.
To say “Mainers know this…” surprises me…in that you actually posted such a statement. Look at the results from the last time this was voted on. A lot of Mainers wanted to see SSM become available in Maine.
It’s all about percentages on election day. Let’s hope the greater percentage this time favors equality, not bigotry.
Until you learn to practice the tolerance you so often preach of and stop condemning people for their religious beliefs and branding people bigots because their poinions differ from yours you are going to continue to lose.
You would do well to understand the difference between an attack and a response. The condemnations started on your side.
Prejudice and discrimination are wrong.
Your comments are a lame attempt to frame the debate as something it is not. The fact the gay marriage is not legal is neither prejudice nor is it discrimination.
Your comment is just your opinion. Calling a gay person less than or their relationship wrong IS prejudicial. Having special rights for one group and not another IS discriminatory.
You have to tell yourself it’s not so you don’t feel guilty about denying your gay neighbors the rights they deserve. That’s what’s “lame.”
It is most certainly discrimination, brought about by a prejudice.
Discrimination |disˌkriməˈnā sh ən|
noun. The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, esp. on the grounds of race, age, or sex : victims of racial discrimination.
prejudice |ˈprejədəs|
noun
Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience : English prejudice against foreigners | anti-Jewish prejudices. See note at bias .
• dislike, hostility, or unjust behavior formed on such a basis : accusations of racial prejudice.
“Factual” definitions of those two words (as if you’d stop practicing both).
sex in the definition means male or female not preferences to different sexual activity
You’re technically right , but how does one explain the secular definition of bestiality and child molestation as being termed as “SEX”? Being a born and raised Pentecostal who wanted to learn more, I did to the point of being agnostic (look it up). The King James Bible has been so adulterated from the Torah (Old Testament), and the New Testament’s book inclusion/exclusion being decided by HUMANS (canonization~sanctioned by “The Church”) ,ya know, the Popes that had children and had to witness their daughter’s marriage being consummated to ensure their hold on the groom’s landholdings?
Is that where people get the simplistic definition of “SEX” from? :)
The fact that some people in this state worked hard to STOP us from marrying is discrimination. And believe you me, there was a lot of prejudice involved as well.
Yeah, it always right to deny citizens equal rights.
I guess I’ll go with the Creator of the universe on this one.
Don’t you mean you will go with whom you believe to be the creator of the universe? I love the christian myth that their creator condemns folks to an eternity of pain and suffering for using thier free will, which he gave them. Gay relations are not a crime: there is no victim. Some loving god you worship.
“I love the christian myth that their creator condemns folks to an eternity of pain and suffering for using thier free will, which he gave them.”
Actually, you by your choices in life, not the creator condems you to an enternity of pain and suffering. The creator teaches you the corret and incorrect path. The creator also teaches the coinsequences of each and then gives you the free will to decide which one you will choose to follow.
Or so goes your mythology.
I think it’s over. Especially here. It’s legal in all of New England except Maine. I think people are starting to realize that all the lies and doomsday theories are not true. Gay people are just like the rest of us.
If gay people were just like the rest of us, they wouldn’t be gay.
And if blondes were just like the rest of us, they’d be brunettes? Great argument, pal.
How do you know the rest of us aren’t Redheads?
If hateful people were just like the rest of us, they wouldn’t be haters.
I didn’t like the Rhode Island civil union law but that they recognize marriage licenses from the other states is great!
What is it with you and the Wineville murders? I already replied to that when you posted it before. It’s a brutal murder case from 1928 that has nothing to do with gay people as a whole. Any more than child killers who are straight are a reflection of how you behave.
You sound like someone who just got dragged, kicking and screaming, from their cave into the 21st century. Get real. Adapt.
Your references to Wineville probably get buzzed because they are ludacris. Consider it a favor.
Then leave.
The author forgot the number one reason: THOSE THAT OPPOSE SSM ARE TIRED OF BEING HATED, BERATED, AND THREATENED. So the polls are swinging in favor of SSM for the same reason that the President still has higher-than-should-be percentages: people would rather make others think they are going along with the trends, but will pull the other lever when they enter the voting booth.
You’re not the victim here. Are you the one being denied equal rights? No. Are you the one being demonized by saying marriage and children need protection from you? Are you the one paying higher taxes and receiving much fewer legal protections? No. So why don’t you stop this self-victimization kick. It’s no where near reality.
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That’s about the most ridiculous thing I’ve read this year.
“Diversity is one of our greatest strengths. During Pride month—and every month—let us celebrate our rich diversity and renew our enduring commitment to equality for all.” Panetta, Secretary of Defense
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