"Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry...?"The result was about 50/50 for the first couple of hours following poll closure, with each side swapping a small lead. But then around 8:30pm California time, the "yes" side took a solid lead and never let it go. The current margin is much bigger than I anticipated, and marks yet another lost battle in the overall war to win marriage equality.
Yes
266,324
52.7%
No
238,595
47.3%
The LGBT and senior communities can rejoice at the results in Washington State:
"Approve or reject a bill that expands the rights, responsibilities, and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners to be equivalent to those of married spouses, except that a domestic partnership is not a marriage.”Two things on Washington: 1. The vote wasn't regarding marriage, but rather for or against civil unions that, similar to California, give gay couples the same rights as marriage, just without calling it "marriage." 2. The "Approve 71" side is not declaring victory, as the current small margin will likely result in a recount request. I don't see a recount changing the result, but I understand why they want to hold back.
Approve
509,673
51.1%
Reject
487,808
48.9%
In Kalamazoo, Michigan, voters overwhelmingly cast ballots against discrimination:
"Shall an ordinance be adopted to generally prohibit discriminatory practices on the basis of an individual’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, height, weight, marital status, physical or mental disability, family status, sexual orientation or gender identity in the provision of housing, public accommodations, and employment, take effect?"In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, openly gay two-term city councilman Mark Kleinschmidt won the mayoral race:
Yes
7,671
61.9%
No
4,731
38.1%
Mark KleinschmidtIn other races:
4,006
49.5%
Matt Czajkowski
3,766
46.5%
Others
322
4.0%
Openly gay former news anchor Charles Pugh received the highest vote total in the races for Detroit City Council, and will thus serve as that body's leader.Overall, the night was essentially one step forward, a step and a half back.
James Llanas in Maplewood, Minnesota fought off some hideous anti-gay attacks to win a seat on that city's council.
Annise Parker, the openly gay comptroller in Houston, received the most votes in the race for mayor, but because no candidate reached 50% +1, the contest is headed for a run-off between Parker and Gene Locke.
