John Cole aptly captures the disappointment and frustration stemming from the loss in Maine:
I honestly don’t know where the gay rights movement goes from here. There have been some recent successes- there seems to be some movement on DADT, an openly gay mayor was elected in North Carolina, Washington state passed a gay rights bill, Obama signed the Shephard legislation, the HIV ban was lifted, and some other victories in other states in recent years. At the same time, I understand (as much as I can) the anger and the frustration. They did the right things- they had bills passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, followed the legitimate political process, and unlike any other civil rights issue, laws are only temporary for gays and a year later it gets overturned in referendums. It has to be maddening, and I have no answers...at this point I can’t think anything other than that they have every right to be pissed. I don’t know if it will work, but maybe the only recourse left for the gay rights movement is legitimate anger. Nothing else seems to be working.
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Adam Serwer at TAPPED makes a similar point:
It never ceases to amaze me how conservatives manage to erect political-cultural barriers that seem only to apply to liberals -- conservatives have argued that any path to marriage equality that goes through the courts is illegitimate, "judicial activism" so to speak, even as gun-rights advocates fight for the incorporation of Second Amendment rights into the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The path to freedom through the courts is fine for the NRA, just not for people looking for the right to marry the person they love.
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