Mainers Vote To Repeal Gay Marriage Law

 

3:55 AM Update: (AP) -- 87 percent of state precincts are reporting that Yes On One - the effort to repeal gay marriage in the state of Maine - has succeeded.  The tally as it stands is 53% voting 'Yes' and 47% voting 'No.'

 

PORTLAND (AP) -- Maine voters have torpedoed a state law that would have allowed gay couples to marry. With 84 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the vote Tuesday.

 

The outcome amounts to a heartbreaking defeat for the gay rights movement -- particularly since it occurred in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

At issue was a law passed by the Maine Legislature last spring that would have legalized same-sex marriage. The law was put on hold after conservatives launched a petition drive to repeal it in a referendum.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)