Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Looking for the long view in ballot loss

— If I understand history, there was this guy who once said, ''The moral arc of the universe is long and it bends toward justice.''

That's got a nice sound to it, much better than ''things will work out eventually.''

Problem is, eventually isn't today, and knowing that the universe will come around doesn't always make being on the business end of history any easier.

Such is the case with gay-rights supporters, who were handed a loss last week with the passage of Question 1, which repealed Maine's same-sex marriage law.

Maine's fight over equality stretches back to the 1970s and the first attempt to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. If you're a veteran of those campaigns you can call on the long view of history to see how far Maine has come. But where does perspective come from if this was your first go-round?

For many of the young volunteers and organizers who supported same-sex marriage, the experience of first-time full-hearted activism is still fresh. And now, so is the experience of a hard-fought loss.

''It's extremely disappointing it didn't happen,'' Lauren Snead said the day after the election. ''I didn't wake up this morning and suddenly have the same opportunities as my straight friends.''

Snead is 29, lives in Portland with her partner and is a program manager for Creative Trails. She found herself immersed in the campaign over the last month, making calls to inform and encourage voters, coaching volunteers in the phone bank and canvassing neighborhoods.

Snead said she had never gotten as involved in a cause or a candidate the way she did in the same-sex marriage campaign. Over the final stretch, she gave it ''every bit of energy I could,'' she said.

It was a personal fight because she'd like the chance to get married someday. More than that, it's about the basic idea of equality, she said.

Snead said there is good news out of the bad, namely that more than 260,000 Mainers favor equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Then again, it's hard to know you came up short even when you're 260,000 people strong.

But if indeed change takes time, that may favor Snead. The idea of two men or two women being in a relationship, wanting to get married or start a family, is not that controversial to young people, Snead said.

''I absolutely think it's a generational thing,'' she said.

To Pat Peard, that's an encouraging silver lining.

''It bodes well for the future that we have these wonderful young people who can be the next leaders and carry the momentum forward,'' she said.

Peard has played a role in Maine's gay-rights movement for more than a decade, starting with the formation of Maine Won't Discriminate, which formed to defeat a anti-gay-rights referendum in 1995.

Peard said she wasn't a stranger to activism but it was her first time leading a campaign. There was a learning curve for fundraising, corralling volunteers and organizing a staff, she said.

Lessons were learned from that campaign, and from the wins and losses of the past 14 years. Peard said she has seen growing support and an evolution in Mainers' thinking during that time.

''The whole movement for equal rights is the civil rights movement for this time period,'' Peard said.

Peard said change happens over time but she thinks there is new momentum. Maine's a different place from when she started on the path to equality in 1994.

''Even this loss tells me we will prevail on marriage equality,'' she said.

Peard has seen the highs and lows, but for Becky Farr this was the first loss.

And the scene she saw in the waning hours of election night, as dread turned to hugs and tears, is one she says she'll never forget.

''I'll remember the look on people's faces when they realized it wasn't going to happen,'' she said.

Farr, 22, was an intern with the campaign, pushing her work and studies at the University of Southern Maine to the side in favor of door-knocking, volunteer recruitment and, as she says, ''talking to strangers.'' It was her first experience on a campaign.

''I was going out for six, seven hours at a time and just talking to people,'' she said.

Then, after one night, it was done. And not in a good way.

It frustrates her on many levels. As a straight ally, Farr wonders why she should have rights that some of her friends don't. More than that, she wonders why it's an issue, because equal rights seems like ''something we shouldn't have to fight for, we should just have,'' she said.

The fight started before Farr was born, but to hear her talk, that history is now her history.

When you stand on the shoulders of people who have made the struggle for equal rights their life's work, maybe you start to see past, present and future.

And with a little perspective, you can catch that long arc of the universe as it starts to bend.

''If they have the strength to do this for 40 years, I certainly can do it,'' she said.

Staff Writer Justin Ellis can be contacted at 791-6380. See his blog at:

www.pressherald.com