On Tuesday night, voters in Maine and Maryland made history in becoming the first two states to approve of homosexual “marriage” by popular vote, which are now the seventh and eight states to approve of such unions.
The outcomes broke a 32-state losing streak in which same-sex “marriage” had been rejected by every state that voted on similar ballot initiatives dating back to 1998.
Voters in Maine passed the measure on Tuesday after homosexual activists were successful in getting enough signatures to include the question on the ballot, while citizens in Maryland had voted to approve a similar law that had been passed earlier this year by the state’s legislature.
The Washington Post reports that homosexuals in Maryland will be able to seek state “marriage” approval as early as January 1, 2013.
This election also brought another historic outcome when voters in Wisconsin elected the first ever openly homosexual U.S. Senator, Tammy Baldwin.
In recent days, homosexual-related issues have been also pushing their way through the courts, including last month’s decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
Homosexuality has increasingly been becoming more widely accepted in the U.S. since the 2003 Supreme Court case of Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down laws against sodomy in fourteen states. The ruling, written by Reagan appointee Anthony Kennedy, involved a case of two men that had been charged with “deviate sexual intercourse” after they were caught engaging in a sexual act while police were investigating a complaint of a weapons disturbance.
The court cited both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey as references in formulating its decision.
“The Casey decision again confirmed that our laws and tradition afford constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing, and education,” Kennedy wrote on behalf of the court. “Persons in a homosexual relationship may seek autonomy for these purposes, just as heterosexual persons do.”
“The case does involve two adults who, with full and mutual consent from each other, engaged in sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle. The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime,” he continued. “Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government,” the court concluded.
The high court is likely to weigh in on same-sex “marriage” in the coming years.
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