Marriage Equality in Maine is Defeated

11/4/09- by Paula Brooks
Opponents of gay marriage in Maine are claiming victory tonight in their effort to overturn a marriage equality law enacted earlier this year by that states legislature.

With more than 84 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, the side seeking to repeal the law had 53 percent of the vote.

Mark Mutty of Stand for Marriage Maine said the effort to repeal same-sex marriage in the Pine Tree state “prevailed because the people of Maine, the silent majority, the folks back home, spoke with their vote tonight. And let’s be clear: What the people of Maine had to say was that marriage matters, and it is between a man and a woman.”

As of early this morning, however opponents of the repeal effort were still hoping for a last-minute boost from late returns, but the Associated Press has called the race for the Yes on One side.

At about 12:30 am, Jesse Connolly, No on One campaign manager, said, “It’s going to be a long night. We always said this was going to be a razor-thin election.” He continued, saying that each vote mattered and that the absentee ballots and votes from each town have not yet been collected.

“We won’t quit, because we’ve had an army of volunteers and families who’ve stood up for equality…we have an incredible staff,” he said. “We’ll be counting tonight…as long as it takes, because we have amazing friends who dug deep, who blogged, who jumped on a plane, or all of the above.”

Connolly went on to promise that the campaign would not rest until they found out “where each vote lives.”

And to the opponents of marriage equality, Connolly said, “It has to stop. It must stop,” speaking about discrimination and harassment.

“We’ll be fighting, we’ll be working, we will regroup,” he said. “This is about love, and commitment, and family. We’re going to stay the course, and we ask you to stay the course with us.”

Connolly however did not concede