Election Day 2009 is over. The results for advocates for sexual justice were very mixed.
The Good: Voters in Washington State affirmed the rights of same sex couples to "everything but" marriage. In Kalamazoo, voters affirmed a gay rights ordinance. Several openly gay candidates were elected to mayoral positions, several in the south. And the ugly Congressional contest in upstate New York resulted in a pro-choice Democrat being elected.
The Bad: Anti-choice candidates defeated pro-choice candidates for Governor in New Jersey and Virgina. This does not bode well for women and girls in those states. One possible silver lining would be if Governor Corzine decides to push for marriage equality in his last months in office.
The Ugly: My heart hurt as I learned about Maine earlier this morning. It's so hard to believe that a majority of Maine voters voted to take the right of marriage AWAY from gay and lesbian people, after it had been approved by the state legislator. I just can't understand how Americans could go and vote for HURTING people's ability to have their commitments recognized, their children to grow up in legal families, and their legal rights to health care, survivor benefits, health insurance, and so on stripped. My heart goes out to my good friends who live in Maine who's rights were trampled on yesterday.
Many of us pray each day, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." It's going to take a few days to forgive voters in some of these states.
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1 comment:
Believe me, there are plenty of Mainers who cared and will not give up on this effort.
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