Word: gays
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...what Toobin and others were seeing early were the returns from the cities, towns and suburbs in Maine. In more rural areas, votes were being counted by hand. By midnight, the momentum had swung the other way, and gay-marriage opponents' lead continued to grow into the morning...
...Still, with the loss in Maine, the focus inevitably turns back to the courts, and for now that means back to California. That's where former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and powerhouse attorney David Boies have brought a suit insisting that the Constitution forbids any law that prohibits gay marriage. Bonauto won't comment on the criticism that gay-rights groups heaped on Olson when he filed the case, saying it was premature given the heavily conservative bent of the federal judiciary. But she said to win across the country, gay-rights supporters must press the marriage case wherever...
...Supporters were left early Wednesday morning looking for silver linings. Eight thousand volunteers manned the campaign to keep same-sex marriage, says Bonauto, and most of those people were not gay. "One way or another, after this vote, the people of Maine are not going to allow gay and lesbian people to remain strangers to the law," she says. "Gays and lesbians have met their non-gay neighbors, and they have introduced their families and their children." In Washington State, voters appeared to have ratified a law that was passed earlier this year giving its 6,000 registered domestic partners...
...That decision has been cited in numerous cases that have followed, as the number of states whose courts have demanded equal marriage rights for gays has grown. But those same cases have also helped fuel opponents, who say gay marriage is being foisted upon the U.S. by out-of-touch judges. In order to counter that argument, Bonauto and other gay-marriage activists in Maine who began organizing to press for gay marriage there decided to avoid taking the issue to court. Instead, they set about electing lawmakers who were friendly to their cause two years ago, and this year...
...That campaign looked to be winning for much of Tuesday evening. Looking at early vote totals, CNN legal-affairs analyst Jeffrey Toobin said if the trend held, the vote in Maine would have enormous implications in favor of gay marriage elsewhere. "That's a big cultural change," he said. "Every time voters have spoken - every time - they have rejected gay marriage. But this shows the country is changing...