The news for gay and lesbian Americans is also HUGE.
There were constitutional amendments and referendums in four states.
In Maryland and Maine, and Washington State, voters have approved marriage equality laws passed by their legislatures but were challenged and required voter approval. They have won in three states.
In Minnesota, there was a constitutional amendment proposal that would limit marriage to one man and one woman. As of 1:30 am, with 81% of returns, those voting against the measure have a slight lead.
Only last week, a message from one of the gay rights organizations said
that a win in only one of these states would be a huge boost, because
it would show that voters will approve gay marriage, not just
legislatures and judges. And at least three, if not all four, have won.
In addition, the first openly gay senator has been elected. Tammy Baldwin has defeated former Governor Tommy Thompson.
Ralph
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Minnesota amendment was in fact defeated. However, I was apparently premature in saying Washington State had approved the marriage equality bill.
ReplyDeleteI was going by the WA Sec. of State's official election return site. It gives the vote, which has a majority in favor -- and it says 100%, so I assumed that meant 100% of the vote had been counted. Other sources suggest that this was just totallly the % of the pro and con votes and was not a final tally. We'll see.