Today I am in mourning for our loss in Maine. But before all the
Monday morning quarterbacking and finger-pointing starts, I just
wanted to thank everyone out there who worked on the No On 1 Campaign,
who walked door to door or phone banked, or who gave money to the
campaign. All that work was not in vain. We lost, but came closer
than we would have without all that work. That is small comfort to
Maine couples who just were told their inviolate inalienable rights
were rejected by their fellow citizens. But it makes a difference in
the long struggle for marriage equality ahead.
Yes, we’ve now lost 31 out of 31 of these marriage elections, and each
loss is heartbreaking. But in the last couple of elections, we saw
the opposition actually forced to change the topic, from marriage
equality, to teaching kids about same sex marriage in schools. And
even with such lies, we saw the vote come close even if, tragically,
short of what we needed. So as I mourn the loss, I take comfort in
seeing how much progress we have made over the last decade with
voters, and knowing that although victory will be harder and more
painful to reach than any of us would prefer, we slowly but surely are
moving towards victory. To quote Dr. King, the arc of the universe is
long, but it bends towards justice.
But for today I will allow myself a day to feel the anger and the
loss, and all the good folks who live in Maine, and the brave folks
who traveled there and gave weeks or months of their lives to help,
will be in my thoughts. Tomorrow, I will again think of the future,
and the victories that lie ahead. Now more than ever we must pass
ENDA and repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell before the 2010 elections, and
then press on until we repeal DOMA, or until we keep a pro-equality
President long enough in the White House for one of the anti-equality
Supreme Court Justices to be replaced so that we can win in the
Supreme Court.
Georg Ketelhohn
Chair, Board of Directors
Organizations United Together
Miami, Florida
