Marriage Equality Affirmed and Democrats have a good year!!!
This year was a great year for marriage and Democrats: Let's take a look at some of the things that happened during the 2012 Elections:
ME Q1 rejected their new marriage law by a 57-43% margin, by 14 points in 2009.
MD like ME and WA passed a Civil Marriage and Religious Freedom Act that was put on the ballot promptly by opponents of marriage equality. Those measures are Q6 and R74
MN in May 2011 needed a simple majority in both chambers of the Legislature (37-27 in the Senate and 70-62 in the House) to pass a constitutional amendment to the people “resolving” the question of gay marriage. Like NC they have a statute that is in place regardless. That statute is being challenged in the Benderson v. Alvarez case and could be overturned. The Catholic Church in MN said that this is why we need Amendment 1 in MN because of the challenged statute. Something of note is Sen Dibble who said I can’t see how anyone could think that my marriage would hurt someone else. Rep Steve Simon said: How many gay people does God have to make before we realize he wants them around? That video went viral
First let me give a shout out to Brian Silva and Marriage Equality USA, while they were in ME and MD I was in OH hoping that the state would turn blue so that we can keep our President and not outsource his job! Brian, we love you and thank you for the work that you and your team did. Also a shout out to Michael Equality Sabatino, who also pointed folks to the MEUSA website where we could make calls and urge people to vote on the side of equality
So, what happened, the outcome is historic, as prior to this marriage equality has always seen a shut out like the NC Amendment 1 in May of 2011 with 61% of the vote and in ME with a prior Question 1 in 2009 with 53%, before that we saw Prop 8 pass with 52% of the vote. So if you were anything like me you were cynical about the polls showing support of the amendments and them passing. I agree with Brian Brown of NOM on this thing and it may be the only thing I agree with him on and that’s this: That the only polls that matter are after they’ve closed and the votes have been counted. I was hoping for ONE or TWO maybe MD and WA upholding theirs. WA had expanded domestic partnerships in 2009 the same year that ME rejected marriage equality. But time had passed, education had been done and people came out to vote on November 6th. Obama’s support for marriage equality may have helped people vote yes on the measure in the face of some black preachers saying: Don’t vote for him or stay at home.
ME passed 2012’s Q1 with 52% and nearly flipped the margin in which it was defeated 3 years ago. ME was the first to legalize marriage equality as their polls closed and votes were counted sooner than MD’s
So MD passed theirs with 51% of the vote and their DREAM Act was upheld, they also legalized casino gambling or expanded it. 5 counties more than likely the most populous ones gave the majority it needed to pass
MN has a loophole that allowed the marriage amendment to fail and it would’ve failed with the votes coutend up anyway. MN has it where a constitutional amendment must pass with the MAJORITY OF ALL VOTES CAST, setting the bar higher than a popular vote alone. Next, if a voter leaves the question blank, it counts as a NO. With 52, nearly 53% of the vote, it was voted down but the statute is still in place. Also of note a voter ID amendment, Amendment 2 was also defeated. Earlier this session, Governor Mark Dayton had vetoed it and a bill for tort reform. He also remarked that he had a dream in which the voters rejected their marriage amendment and called on MN voters to reject it. Sounds like that call was answered
Other things to note Medical Marijuana passed in CO and WA rejected in AR
Prop 32 in CA failed which would curb the ability of unions to give to campaigns.
I left a status on Pissed Off Liberal Momma's page here:
Never underestimate pissed off liberals! We picked up the lower chamber (House/General Assembly) in: NH, OR & CO. NY Senate goes to Dems putting us in control of the statehouse once again. ME, MN have Dems controlling the statehouses there and Supermajorities in IL and CA.
Republican supermajorities gained in NC, GA & TN but were cut in FL, TX and in AZ Legislature though they still control the statehouses. More work to do in 2014!!!
We have to make sure the gains we made this year won't be reversed by a more conservative electorate. We can still take back the House of Reps too! Happy Voting!
ME Q1 rejected their new marriage law by a 57-43% margin, by 14 points in 2009.
MD like ME and WA passed a Civil Marriage and Religious Freedom Act that was put on the ballot promptly by opponents of marriage equality. Those measures are Q6 and R74
MN in May 2011 needed a simple majority in both chambers of the Legislature (37-27 in the Senate and 70-62 in the House) to pass a constitutional amendment to the people “resolving” the question of gay marriage. Like NC they have a statute that is in place regardless. That statute is being challenged in the Benderson v. Alvarez case and could be overturned. The Catholic Church in MN said that this is why we need Amendment 1 in MN because of the challenged statute. Something of note is Sen Dibble who said I can’t see how anyone could think that my marriage would hurt someone else. Rep Steve Simon said: How many gay people does God have to make before we realize he wants them around? That video went viral
First let me give a shout out to Brian Silva and Marriage Equality USA, while they were in ME and MD I was in OH hoping that the state would turn blue so that we can keep our President and not outsource his job! Brian, we love you and thank you for the work that you and your team did. Also a shout out to Michael Equality Sabatino, who also pointed folks to the MEUSA website where we could make calls and urge people to vote on the side of equality
So, what happened, the outcome is historic, as prior to this marriage equality has always seen a shut out like the NC Amendment 1 in May of 2011 with 61% of the vote and in ME with a prior Question 1 in 2009 with 53%, before that we saw Prop 8 pass with 52% of the vote. So if you were anything like me you were cynical about the polls showing support of the amendments and them passing. I agree with Brian Brown of NOM on this thing and it may be the only thing I agree with him on and that’s this: That the only polls that matter are after they’ve closed and the votes have been counted. I was hoping for ONE or TWO maybe MD and WA upholding theirs. WA had expanded domestic partnerships in 2009 the same year that ME rejected marriage equality. But time had passed, education had been done and people came out to vote on November 6th. Obama’s support for marriage equality may have helped people vote yes on the measure in the face of some black preachers saying: Don’t vote for him or stay at home.
ME passed 2012’s Q1 with 52% and nearly flipped the margin in which it was defeated 3 years ago. ME was the first to legalize marriage equality as their polls closed and votes were counted sooner than MD’s
So MD passed theirs with 51% of the vote and their DREAM Act was upheld, they also legalized casino gambling or expanded it. 5 counties more than likely the most populous ones gave the majority it needed to pass
MN has a loophole that allowed the marriage amendment to fail and it would’ve failed with the votes coutend up anyway. MN has it where a constitutional amendment must pass with the MAJORITY OF ALL VOTES CAST, setting the bar higher than a popular vote alone. Next, if a voter leaves the question blank, it counts as a NO. With 52, nearly 53% of the vote, it was voted down but the statute is still in place. Also of note a voter ID amendment, Amendment 2 was also defeated. Earlier this session, Governor Mark Dayton had vetoed it and a bill for tort reform. He also remarked that he had a dream in which the voters rejected their marriage amendment and called on MN voters to reject it. Sounds like that call was answered
Other things to note Medical Marijuana passed in CO and WA rejected in AR
Prop 32 in CA failed which would curb the ability of unions to give to campaigns.
I left a status on Pissed Off Liberal Momma's page here:
Never underestimate pissed off liberals! We picked up the lower chamber (House/General Assembly) in: NH, OR & CO. NY Senate goes to Dems putting us in control of the statehouse once again. ME, MN have Dems controlling the statehouses there and Supermajorities in IL and CA.
Republican supermajorities gained in NC, GA & TN but were cut in FL, TX and in AZ Legislature though they still control the statehouses. More work to do in 2014!!!
We have to make sure the gains we made this year won't be reversed by a more conservative electorate. We can still take back the House of Reps too! Happy Voting!
Comments
Post a Comment