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Victories for Marriage Equality and First Openly Gay U.S. Senator
"There is clear mandate in this country for equality,"
- Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign
Before last night, voters in more than 30 consecutive statewide elections across the United States approved bans on same-sex marriage. On Tuesday, three states broke the trend—with a fourth still counting its votes—in what some advocates and organizations are calling the most successful election for gay rights ever.
"There is clear mandate in this country for equality," Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said on a conference call with reporters today. Griffin was referring to same-sex marriage laws upheld by voters in Maryland and Maine and the defeat of an amendment to the Minnesota state constitution that would have restricted marriage to heterosexual couples. Officials in Washington State are also still counting votes from last night on a referendum that would uphold a marriage equality law there; Griffin said he is "cautiously optimistic" about the final tally.