The state of the same-sex union

Published November 3, 2004 4:55AM (EST)

It's not pretty tonight.

Eleven states cast ballots Tuesday on anti-same-sex marriage amendments: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. CNN has projected that the bans will pass in 10 out of 11 of those states -- all but Oregon, where the polls stayed open latest and it is still too early to call.

According to CNN, in eight of the 11 states, the constitutional amendments contain additional language that could also result in the ban of civil unions and other legal protections for gay and lesbian people.

And mayors of Oklahoma, take heed: You better not try to pull a Gavin Newsom. "The measure projected to be approved in Oklahoma went one step further," CNN reports, "by making it a misdemeanor crime to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, a pre-emptive shot against any local officials who might want to follow in Newsom's footsteps."

Update: And Oregon now makes it all 11 states.


By Mark Follman

Mark Follman is Salon's deputy news editor. Read his other articles here.

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