A Coming Wave of Gay Marriage Electoral Victories?

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/a-coming-wave-of-gay-marriage-electoral-victories/260787/


The electoral process has not been kind to advocates of gay marriage. Again and again, states -- 32 in all -- have voted against it at the ballot box, even in liberal bastions like California, which passed Proposition 8 in 2008. The latest blow came in May, when North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions by a 22-point margin.

But that could all change in November. Four states have marriage-related ballot initiatives this fall, and gay-rights activists are cautiously optimistic that their side could win most or all of them -- a potentially historic turning of the tide.

The pro-gay-marriage side currently leads in the latest polls of the ballot measures in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Here's a breakdown of where things stand on the question of whether gay marriage should be legalized in each state:

MAINE (WBUR, June):

Yes: 55 percent

No: 36 percent

MARYLAND (Hart Research Assoicates, August):

Yes: 54 percent

No: 40 percent

MINNESOTA (Public Policy Polling, June):

Yes: 49 percent

No: 43 percent

WASHINGTON (PPP, June):

Yes: 51 percent

No: 42 percent

[customerserviceguy]

1. Every time the voters of Washington state

have had a step towards marriage equality presented to them, they've always done the right thing. I expect that to happen again this November.

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2. I don't trust

the numbers for Minnesota. I have a bad feeling about that vote.