On November 3, 2009, voters in Washington, by a 53% to 47% margin, approved the domestic partner legislation, making Washington the first state in which gay partnerships were affirmed by a popular vote.

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Victory in Maine/Defeat in Maine

After a series of public hearings in which supporters and opponents passionately spoke about a proposal to permit same-sex marriage in Maine, the state legislature took up the question in the spring of 2009.

The legislature concluded their work on May 6, 2009, both houses having voted in favor of marriage equality. Within minutes of the bill reaching Governor John Baldacci's desk, the Governor signed it, ending intense speculation as to whether he might exercise his veto power.

The Governor had expressed his belief that marriage was a union of a man and woman, and there was a widespread belief that he might either veto the bill or, at best, allow it to become law without his signature. But on further reflection, Governor Baldacci reached the conclusion that he had a responsibility to sign the legislation because not to do so would undermine the constitutional principle of equal protection under the law.

Declaring that "you cannot allow discrimination to stand," the Governor endorsed marriage equality.

Maine thus became the second state to enact an equal marriage law without being forced to do so by a court decision. However, despite the legislative victory, the new law never went into effect.

Soon after Governor Baldacci signed the bill, opponents announced that they would begin the process of gathering 55,000 signatures to subject the new law to a "people's veto," or public referendum. Opponents of the law in fact submitted more than 100,000 signatures. The marriage equality law was thus suspended pending the results of a referendum in November 2009.

Despite an effective and well-financed campaign to retain marriage equality in Maine, the referendum to veto the law was passed by a 53-47 margin in the election of November 3, 2009.

The defeat sent shock waves through the glbtq community, raising the question of whether it would ever be possible for marriage equality to prevail at the polls, at least until the most homophobic demographic--those over 65 years of age--die off.

It should be remembered, however, that despite its reputation for live-and-let-live libertarianism, Maine is not a liberal state, especially in comparison with other New England states. Indeed, the "people's veto" was used to derail anti-discrimination legislation twice before it finally prevailed.

In the actual campaign, the opponents of marriage equality, principally the Roman Catholic Church and the Mormon-front group, the National Organization for Marriage, launched an assault on equal marriage rights by stoking fears that somehow legalizing same-sex marriage would have a deleterious effect on school children and, at the same time, running ads saying that they had no objection to domestic partnership or civil unions, only to the "redefinition" of marriage. Notwithstanding the fact that the Roman Catholic Church and the National Organization for Marriage have consistently opposed domestic partnerships, their ads alleging their support of gay rights seem to have been effective.