Nov 06, 2009  |  By: Chris Johnson  | COMMENTS     

The loss of same-sex marriage rights in Maine is being called a devastating blow to the gay civil rights movement, triggering criticism of President Obama and discussion about whether national LGBT groups need to rethink their strategy.

On Tuesday, Maine voters approved a “people’s veto” of the law that legalized same-sex marriage in their state, abrogating the statute before any such unions could occur. With about 87 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday, voters appeared to have approved the initiative, known as Question 1, with 53 percent of the vote.

The loss in Maine echoes a loss last year in California, where the passage of Proposition 8 ended same-sex marriage in a state where gay couples had previously enjoyed the right to marry.

Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine and member of the “No on 1” campaign’s executive committee, said her thoughts following the loss were with Maine’s gay families that won’t receive protections under the law.

“That’s who this campaign was about,” she said. “It was about treating gay and lesbian families with dignity and respect under Maine law. Voters chose not to do that, and it’s a difficult loss — it’s difficult mostly because of the families who today continue to go unprotected and will for the near future.”

Maine Gov. John Baldacci, who signed the marriage law in May and campaigned against the “people’s veto,” said in a statement that the loss was disheartening, but doesn’t mean the end of pursuit for equal rights in the state.

“We didn’t take on this issue because we were certain that we would win,” he said. “We did it because it was the right thing to do. Last night, we didn’t reach the top of the mountain. But we did change a lot of hearts and a lot of minds. Eventually, we will be successful in making sure all Maine individuals and families are treated equally.”

Smith said she thought the other side was successful because “we still have further to go” in talking with people about treating all families equally.

“We made it a long way in one year, but it just wasn’t quite far enough,” she said. “We need to have more conversations with more people so that they understand who we’re talking about and why these families need full equality.”

Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, one of the national groups that fought to preserve the marriage law, said the loss in Maine was “deeply painful” because supporters of same-sex marriage thought they could win the battle. Still, she predicted future victories ahead.

“It would have been great if we had won, [but] this is a movement that is going forward,” she said. “Just like after we lost in California, we had victories in Iowa, in New Hampshire and Vermont, and we did have the Maine Legislature [that] passed marriage equality.”

Swislow said the losses in Maine and California mean LGBT people have to look carefully about when to go to ballot questions for their rights.

“For me, part of the takeaway is people’s feelings about gay people, and their discomfort with gay people is very, very deep,” she said. “It runs deeper than we think we know because certainly … there was nothing in our polling that would have led us to expect this margin of loss.”

The groups seeking to preserve same-sex marriage in Maine didn’t succeed even though they out-raised opponents by a significant margin. The “No on 1” campaign raised $4 million for its efforts, compared to the $1.5 million raised by Stand for Marriage Maine, according to campaign finance reports.

Celebrating the passage of Question 1 was the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to marriage rights for same-sex couples. Brian Brown, NOM’s executive director, sent a message to members Wednesday announcing the victory.

“The importance of the win in Maine nationally can not be overstated,” he wrote. “Same-sex marriage activists saw Maine as their best chance to win a direct marriage vote. They thought it would stop the momentum we gained by passing Proposition 8 dead in its tracks — and reverse it. … Instead, for the first time in history, the voters of a state have overturned the legislative enactment of same-sex marriage.”

Brown said in the message that if opponents of same-sex marriage can win in Maine, they “can win anywhere.”

But Smith said LGBT advocates would continue to fight for same-sex marriage, even in the face of opposition.

“We won’t stop working for full equality because we all deserve it,” she said. “We just need to regroup and think about ...