Good news abounds from election day this past Tuesday. First up is Maine, where voters overwhelingly endorse a gay rights law. By a vote of 56% – 44%, Maine chose to not repeal an anti-discrimination law. This vote clearly shows that Maine residents believe that people are people, and should not be treated differently because they are different.

Hopefully this level-headed view of this issue will propogate throughout the rest of the nation.

The law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, credit and education. It defines sexual orientation as “a person’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality or gender identity or expression.”

The law says it is not intended to redefine marriage, which a separate state law defines as the union of a man and a woman. But opponents of the law, led by the Christian Civic League of Maine and the Maine Grassroots Coalition, argued during the campaign that keeping the gay rights law on the books would pave the way for legalizing same-sex marriage.

Maine Won’t Discriminate, which led the fight to retain the law, countered that the law had nothing to do with marriage. Supporters said discrimination against gays and lesbians is a fact of life in Maine, so the Legislature did the right thing by amending the Human Rights Act to ban such practices.

Voters who backed the law said they did so because discrimination is wrong, regardless of the basis for it. “People have the right to be who they are” without worrying about losing a job or an apartment as a result, said singer Kattie Webber of Farmingdale.

I now no longer have a doubt that James Dobson is out of his friggin’ mind. Aside from waiting for god to tell him whether or not Miers is a good nominee for the Supreme Court Dobson is now making a “prophecy” that gay marriage will lead to beastiality:

James C. Dobson predicted on his radio program that allowing same-sex marriage in the United States would lead to “group marriage,” “marriage between daddies and little girls,” or “marriage between a man and his donkey.” Dobson called this vision of the future “more or less a prophecy,”

What the hell is wrong with anti-gay marriage people? How does it follow that marriage between two consenting adults would lead to marriage between a consenting adult and someone/something who can’t give consent (such as a child or an animal)? This is not brain surgery. It’s basic, fundamental logic: two consenting adults does not equal one consenting adult.

Hooray! Another win for the good guys: Connecticut now officially recognize Civil Unions!

[The] new law allowing same-sex civil unions took effect. City halls in Hartford, Stamford, New Haven and a half-dozen small towns held special weekend hours to issue certificates to couples who said they waited for years to be legally recognized.

Connecticut became the first state to legalize civil unions without being forced by the courts after lawmakers passed a law endorsing the unions in April. Massachusetts allows gay marriages and Vermont recognizes civil unions because of lawsuits.

Civil unions are definitely a step in the right direction.

More good news about marriage quality, this time from Daily Kos:

If those anti-gay efforts started with a bang, today they ended with a fizzle. A second constitutional convention addressing the issue today came up short. Really short. In fact, only 39 losers voted for it, 157 against.

Seems that after a year of gay marriage, people started realizing that heck — marriage really wasn’t in so much danger after all. Imagine that…

One state down, 49 more to go…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The California Legislature on Tuesday became the first legislative body in the country to approve same-sex marriages, as gay-rights advocates overcame two earlier defeats in the Assembly.

Now let’s just hope that Schwarzenegger does the right thing and signs this sucker.

Whoa, here’s a big friggin’ surprise: a church has actually come out in support of gay marriage! “The United Church of Christ chose Independence Day to have its general synod vote and affirm the Church’s support for ‘equal marriage rights for couples, regardless of gender.’
It’s the first mainline Christian denomination to support same-sex marriage. The vote was overwhelming and likely won’t lead to the schisms that have rocked the Episcopal Church worldwide for its more ginger steps.”

Hooray for the good guys!