SEATTLE -
Tuesday night, voters in Maine repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed - that coming from a region with a reputation for supporting gay equality.
Referendum 71 in Washington state gives gay couples equal rights, but stops short of deeming it "marriage."
Between the glass-clinking cautious cheers here supporters are painfully aware, our country is deeply torn over what to do about gay rights.
"You take a tragedy and you add tremendous insult on top of it," says Charlene Strong.
Strong's battle over gay rights is not only personal, but tragic. Her partner of 10 years died when she got caught in her basement during a flood. As Kate lay dying in the hospital Strong couldn't see her until a relative gave her permission.
"What happened to Kate the night that she died and the days that followed, it became very clear to me how few rights we had,"
Lawmakers passed a equal gay rights bill last year, but a petition forced it onto last night's ballot, and for the first time in this country, it appears voters, not lawmakers, not a judge, will approve it.
"We are not yet truly a statewide movement," says Senator Ed Murray.
Murray championed our state's domestic partnership bill. He's been in a gay relationship for 18 years. He says Tuesday night's apparent win may be a big step, but only on one level.
"There are, between federal and state laws about 1,400 laws that deal with marriage and we are just covering about 4 or 500 in Washington state," he says.
The battle has escalated dramatically in recent years. Gay marriage has already been voted on in 31 other states and it's lost every single time.
"People here in Maine say they agree with the rest of the country," says Bob Emerich with Stand for Marriage Maine.
Voters just rejected a gay marriage measure there: 53 to 47 percent.
"I think it says something about the legislatures, too, certainly here in Maine, that they're missing something. That they're not connecting with the people," says Emerich.
"Why is that we look at someone who is gay or lesbian and we say, I don't understand your life, so I'm going to vote away your rights," says Strong.
5 states have legalized gay marriage: Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut, but only through legislation or a court order.
Despite what happened in Maine, in New England: there is a campaign right now to extend gay rights in all six of the state's in that region by 2012, but critics say the success there is largely due to lawmakers, not voters, making the decisions.
Referendum 71 in Washington state gives gay couples equal rights, but stops short of deeming it "marriage."
Between the glass-clinking cautious cheers here supporters are painfully aware, our country is deeply torn over what to do about gay rights.
"You take a tragedy and you add tremendous insult on top of it," says Charlene Strong.
Strong's battle over gay rights is not only personal, but tragic. Her partner of 10 years died when she got caught in her basement during a flood. As Kate lay dying in the hospital Strong couldn't see her until a relative gave her permission.
"What happened to Kate the night that she died and the days that followed, it became very clear to me how few rights we had,"
Lawmakers passed a equal gay rights bill last year, but a petition forced it onto last night's ballot, and for the first time in this country, it appears voters, not lawmakers, not a judge, will approve it.
"We are not yet truly a statewide movement," says Senator Ed Murray.
Murray championed our state's domestic partnership bill. He's been in a gay relationship for 18 years. He says Tuesday night's apparent win may be a big step, but only on one level.
"There are, between federal and state laws about 1,400 laws that deal with marriage and we are just covering about 4 or 500 in Washington state," he says.
The battle has escalated dramatically in recent years. Gay marriage has already been voted on in 31 other states and it's lost every single time.
"People here in Maine say they agree with the rest of the country," says Bob Emerich with Stand for Marriage Maine.
Voters just rejected a gay marriage measure there: 53 to 47 percent.
"I think it says something about the legislatures, too, certainly here in Maine, that they're missing something. That they're not connecting with the people," says Emerich.
"Why is that we look at someone who is gay or lesbian and we say, I don't understand your life, so I'm going to vote away your rights," says Strong.
5 states have legalized gay marriage: Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut, but only through legislation or a court order.
Despite what happened in Maine, in New England: there is a campaign right now to extend gay rights in all six of the state's in that region by 2012, but critics say the success there is largely due to lawmakers, not voters, making the decisions.
