Election Results: Win Some, Lose Some

A brief political roundup for election week:

Yesterday, Texas voters approved a measure placing an amendment in the Texas Bill of Rights defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman. It is unclear whether the language of the amendment would also ban other legal ties between same-sex partners, a similar conundrum to that facing Michigan’s court system. PlanetOut notes, however, that as more states (19 so far) ban same-sex marriage, the harder it will be for the right to claim this should be federally mandated. Interesting from a legal perspective, but it doesn’t really make me feel any better. As someone who’s lived in five states, has relatives in at least seven, and loves to travel, I don’t want my marriage to switch on and off like a water faucet.

Voters in Maine, on the other hand, chose to keep a GLBT-inclusive non-discrimination law. I’m having a bowl of chowder to celebrate.

Finally, in California today, lawyers for 12 same-sex couples filed a brief arguing that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. While the result is still pending, this at least reminds us that the fight continues.