Analysis: A new dawn for LGBT America

After an extraordinary US election result with voters in three states passing equal marriage rights for gay couples, Scott Roberts sums up the highlights of an incredible week for America.

Of wider electoral significance were the decisions of Maine, Maryland and the state of Washingtonto approve equal marriage after voters supported the measure in public ballots. In Minnesota, where same-sex marriage is banned by statute, a referendum to cement this ban into the state’s constitution was also defeated. The story of the night was that a majority of Americans voted in favour of advancing equality wherever it was on the ballot.

Over the years, campaigners fighting for marriage equality have faced an arduous battle in maintaining their gains. With the exception of Minnesota the other three states’ legislatures had already approved the measure, but in each case, a coalition of wealthy, evangelical Christian anti-gay movements felt the need to go to war over the issue, believing they could change the cultural trajectory of the country.

For them, institutions of sovereign democracy, such as state legislatures, were always derided as ‘not representing the views of the people’ when it came to equal marriage. The anti-gay National Organisation for Marriage (NOM) had believed that it could repeat its 2007 victory in California, when same-sex marriages were halted at the passing of Proposition 8, a referendum that endorsed a state constitutional ban.

However on Wednesday morning, voters, who NOM and other equal marriage opponents had always argued were the only people who should be allowed to decide upon the measure failed to give them the verdict they were hoping for.

Force to eat humble pie, NOM’s president, Brian Brown said: “Our opponents and some in the media will attempt to portray the election results as a changing point in how Americans view gay marriage, but that is not the case.”  Read More