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PORTLAND — The No on 1 campaign is down but not out. It remained vigilant in pursuing its goal early Wednesday morning at its Election Day party, where its leaders were adamant the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine isn’t finished.
Election Day ended with the majority of voters approving Question 1 on Maine’s ballot Tuesday Nov. 3 with 52.81 percent of Mainers choosing “yes.”
“We won’t quit because we had an army of volunteers and families,” said Jesse Connolly, campaign manager of Protect Maine Equality. “We won’t quit because of the thousands of Mainers who gave us a volunteer shift or talked to their neighbor or told their brother to get off the couch and go pull the lever for No on 1.”
A few couples cried and comforted each other as the event ended.
Tuesday ended with the Yes on 1 campaign in the lead with more votes than their opponents. Stand for Marriage Maine declared victory around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. The No on 1 campaign held its Election Day party at the Holiday Inn in Portland, where hundreds of people crowded a room to watch live updates of the election results.
Libby Mitchell, president of the state Senate, said early during the party, “We will win today, and even if we don’t, we will win tomorrow.”
Connolly said the Election Day results are not the end for the Equality Maine campaign.
“We have something to say to our opponents who would demean and attack our schools or our families: It must stop. It has to stop,” Connolly said. “We will be here. We will be fighting. We will be working. We will regroup.”
Most of the day, the crowd in Portland was upbeat and cheered whenever live updates containing more “no” votes for Question 1 appeared on the two projection screens in the room. The results from Brewer, which voted “yes” on Question 1, received a collective sigh from the crowd.
Mary Bonauto, from the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said early in the event: “When so many can put themselves into the shoes of their gay and lesbian neighbors, as is happening here in Maine, then the future is bright.”
The No on 1 campaign event was broadcast live with national coverage, including the Rachel Maddow show.
Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said early in the event, “We have made a difference for Maine.”
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said, “The state of Maine is going to do the right thing.”
Legislative Rep. Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, said the debate concerning same-sex marriage in the Legislature during the spring was one of the most important and serious debates she has attended in the state Legislature.
“This is about Maine values. This is the most extraordinary campaign I’ve ever been a part of,” Mitchell said. “It’s right to respect your neighbors and treat them with dignity.”
“What happened in this campaign shows what committed people can do,” Mitchell said early in the event.
Mayor of Portland Jill Duson spoke to the crowd and asked Portland voters to raise their hands — and most of the hands in the room shot into the air. Then she asked everyone to turn to the person next to them and give them a hug.
“We love those public displays of affection,” Duson said.
Duson announced Portland’s voting numbers: 7,248 for yes, and 19,975 for no. The no number was greeted with a thunderous round of applause.
Darlene Huntress from Protect Maine Equality said, “I know that over the last seven years … the people got that absolutely nothing, nothing takes the place of full equality. Nothing.”
Terry Guerette and Tamiko Davies, from Portland, who became partners 10 years ago, said they were uncertain their families would accept their relationship, but they held a ceremony anyway. Davies said Guerette’s mother, though initially disapproving, eventually wrote a letter to the Lewiston Sun Journal endorsing same-sex marriage. Davies said their son asked them what would happen to their family if Question 1 passed.
“We assured him, no matter what, they can’t take away the love of our family,” Davies said.
Jim Bishop and Stephen Ryan, from Bar Mills, said they have been life partners for 34 years. Ryan said marriage was as fundamental to him as breathing or eating.
“We’ve got each other, we’ve got love and we will prevail,” Ryan said.
Mark Sullivan, spokesman for Protect Maine Equality, said the No on 1 campaign “will not stop until they have achieved their goal.”
Related Posts:- No on 1 ahead in fundraising, finance reports show (October 18, 2009)
- Question 1 seeks to reject L.D. 1020 (October 19, 2009)
- Editorial: Opponents of same-sex marriage don’t have a leg to stand on (October 8, 2009)
- Voters veto gay marriage (November 4, 2009)
- Maine to vote on gay marriage in Nov. (September 10, 2009)
To all the bigots out there … we are far from giving up! For me at least, the more things like this happen, I am finding myself even more vigilant to get gay marriage completely legal throughout the entire US. I was pretty passive on the subject before Prop 8. Living in CA at the time, I saw first-hand, the evilness of the supporters of Prop 8, which made me get involved in fighting to keep same-sex marriage legal in CA. After Prop 8 won, I got even more involved, and now, after Question 1 in Maine, I feel myself even more determined to help get this done for the LGBT community. Yeah, I was bummed a bit after CA and ME, but defeats like Prop 8 and in Maine doesn’t demoralize us, it just makes us even stronger! The tide is on our side, and we will get this completed! Now where are those donor names for NOM, and the petition signers for Referendum 71?! If you can boycott Pepsi, Disney, ABC, etc. … we can do the same to businesses that support this type of bigotry!
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