I was out driving this morning and I thought: What would it feel like to know that half of the people driving by me just voted to take away my right to marry?

Unfortunately, there are thousands of people in Maine this morning who know exactly what that feels like.  There are children who have two moms or two dads, who had to be told this morning before they went to school that half of their friend’s parents voted against their family. No child should be told that their family is any less just because their parents are of the same sex, and no same-sex couple should be told that they aren’t good enough for marriage.

But you know what makes me the angriest? That there are people who are happy about how this turned out. There are people who are grateful for this result. There are people who see this as a wonderful thing. It makes me angry that there are going to be people walking around Maine today with huge smiles on their faces because Sam Putnam’s moms, Michelle and Jennifer, can’t get married.

It’s easy to be angry this morning and it’s easy to be depressed. And I’m both of those things. But we’ve been fighting this fight for decades, so why give up now? We had a bad day yesterday A very big, very bad day. But what about today? What can we do today to make up for it? How can we make today better than yesterday? That’s what this is really all about, isn’t it?

So what can our actions today mean for tomorrow? Well, there’s actually one thing from yesterday that says an awful lot about that. Adam Bink was live-blogging the election results last night on Open Left, and had this to report:
 

 Final numbers are in from [University of Maine]-Orono campus- 81% No, 19%  Yes.

We know that younger people are more likely to vote in support of marriage equality and other LGBTQ rights, and here’s proof. It wasn’t enough yesterday, but we have to look ahead. We always have to think about tomorrow. These are our lives weren’t talking about. We’re not going to let a bigoted majority get us down, are we? We know that LGBTQ people deserve the right to marry just as much as straight people do. Just because a lot of other people don’t yet feel that same way, doesn’t mean that we should accept the second class and give up. What would that say about us?

I’ll be honest and admit that my optimism feels a little empty this morning. I believe that we have to move on and I believe that we will win…eventually…but I’m not going to pretend that my words of encouragement are…what’s the word? I believe in what I’m saying, but it feels like I’m saying it because I have to. Because that’s what I’m supposed to say at a time like this. “It’ll be better tomorrow. Let’s not give up. This isn’t the end.” All those things are true. Maybe I’m just depressed.

This loss hurts. But same-sex couples in Maine are still living their lives. They still love each other and the still love their children just the same. They will go on living their lives together- supporting each other and caring for each other. And if they can go on…I guess we can too.

~ Samantha