At least so far.
Let us count the ways:
- After going 0 for 32, same-sex marriage referendum questions were approved by voters in Maine (reversing a 2009 referendum), Maryland and Washington. The attempt to enshrine opposition to same-sex marriage in the Minnesota constitution was also rejected by voters of that state.
- Arizona appears to have elected the Kirsten Sinema as the first openly bisexual member of the U. S. Congress.<!–more–>
- With Democratic governors and Democratic takeovers of both houses of their respective legislatures, Colorado and Minnesota appear poised to become the 10th and 11th states to legally recognize same-sex marriages.
- In Wisconsin, Rep. Tammy Baldwin defeated four-time Gov. Tommy Thompson to become the first openly gay person elected to the U. S. Senate.
- Mark Pocan, her successor in Wisconsin’s 2nd congressional district, is one of five newly-elected openly gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
One significance of the 2012 national election is that Barack Obama, by winning a second term, has an opportunity to implement more fully the agenda on which he campaigned in 2008. But it may be that when history books are written about this election, they’ll point to it first and foremost as the tipping point towards full legal equality for gays and lesbians in the United States.
Crossposted at: http://masscommons.wordpress.com/
