Elections
- As I’m sure you all know, we lost marriage equality in Maine. Everyone is writing about this. A few pieces of note are those of Jeremy at Good As You and Nan Hunter at Bilerico, who look at how the right won against a solid equality campaign; Pam on the “dying hog of homophobia”; Adam Bink, who was in the Protect Maine Equality war room on election night; and Andrew Sullivan, with whom I don’t always agree, but who says some smart things here, like “In my view, the desperate nature of the current tactics against us, the blatant use of fear around children (which both worries parents and also stigmatizes gay people in one, deft swoop) are signs that what we are demanding truly, truly matters.”
Also worth a read is the piece at Bay Windows by Sue O’Connell who observes that we failed in Maine because: “Our message to protect our civil rights is about us, not about all of America. We’ve failed to make our cause a universal battle for civil rights. A message about us also defines the battle as one being waged against them.”
- The voters of Kalamazoo, Michigan approved an anti-discrimination ordinance that bans discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations.
- In New Jersey, the anti-equality Chris Christie beat incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, who has promised to enact marriage equality. Garden State Equality is pushing for a new law before Gov. Corzine leaves office.
- Washington State voters approved Referendum 71, thus upholding domestic partnership rights that are equivalent except in name to opposite-sex marriages, at least in terms of state rights. This is the first time a state’s voters have approved a marriage equality measure at the ballot box.
- Lesbian and gay candidates also won a number of local races for mayors, city councils, and school boards. GayPolitics.com has the roundup. (A special nod to lesbian mom Annise Parker, who advances to a runoff for mayor of Houston.)
Other Issues
- The U.S. Senate held its first hearing on the sexual-orientation and gender-identity inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
- Some conservatives are asking Republican senators to support an amendment that would ban federal funding for sex-reassignment surgery under a public health insurance plan.
- Gov. David Paterson of New York has called a special session of the State Senate for Nov. 10 in order to vote on a marriage equality bill.
- Basic Rights Oregon launched a campaign to put an initiative on the Oregon ballot as early as 2012 to lift the constitutional ban on marriage of same-sex couples.
- The city of Austin, Texas, will begin offering COBRA-like health insurance benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of city employees
- The Wisconsin State Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit challenging the state’s domestic-partner registry. Conservatives claimed it violated the state’s ban on marriage of same-sex couples.
(I’ve focused on the U.S. this week because the elections gave us extra news there. Back with the around-the-world updates next week.)