On Nov. 8, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, making their state the 19th to take that step, the Associated Press reported. The gay-marriage ban was supported by almost 80 percent of voters. Three out of four Texas voters supported the amendment. It not only bars same-sex couples from marrying but also prevents the state from recognizing civil unions.
Opponents of the measure say it may also negate common-law marriages for opposite-sex couples.
An organization representing opposite-sex unmarried couples joined with LGBT-rights groups to fight the amendment, running a telephone ad campaign that infuriated amendment supporters, 365Gay.com reported. Save Texas Marriage targeted a million homes in Texas with the message that the amendment was so badly worded it would outlaw heterosexual common-law marriages and nullify wills and other agreements between unmarried couples.
Recently, the Ku Klux Klan staged a small but well-publicized anti-gay rally on a public square at Austin's City Hall. Several thousand individuals staged a counter-protest.
Texas already had a law banning same-sex marriage, but supporters of the amendment say that by that putting it in the state constitution judges would be prevented from overturning the law.
The Human Rights Campaign, in a statement, blamed cynical politics for the passage of the amendment. 'These amendments are part of a long-standing effort by the extreme right to eliminate any legal recognition for gay people and our families,' noted Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. However, he also vowed to continue ' [ t ] his fight for fairness.' In another statement, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman termed the Texas outcome a 'tyranny of the majority.'
Supporters of the amendment immediately called on Congress to pass the federal marriage amendment. The amendment's sponsor, State Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, said the measure would close all doors to civil unions, according to Science Daily.
Things turned out differently in Maine for pro-gay advocates, however, according to The Boston Globe. On the same day that most Texas voters rejected the concept of same-sex marriage, residents in Maine made it the last New England state to ban sexual orientation discrimination, turning back efforts to overturn the statute that the Maine legislature approved. It was the third time Maine voters had decided on an equal rights measure passed by the legislature, the Gay People's Chronicle noted. Like this year, a petition drive forced a 1998 law onto the ballot, where it was repealed. Two years later, lawmakers sent a replacement bill directly to the voters, who rejected it.
The law protects LGBT individuals from discrimination in housing, employment and credit, 365Gay.com stated. Gov. John Baldacci signed the measure in March. In a release separate from the one connected with the outcome in Texas, Foreman called the result 'a much-needed victory in our national movement.'