On Election Day 2004, the LGBT community at the University and across the country was disheartened when citizens passed state amendments banning gay marriage in all 11 states where the measure appeared on the ballot.
The states are Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon and Utah. According to MSNBC, more than 20 million Americans voted on the anti-gay marriage amendments.
MSNBC and CNN independently confirmed that Michigan and Oregon had the closest races, but each passed its amendment, with 57 and 59 percent majorities respectively.
Mississippi passed the measure with an 86 percent majority, while in the other states more than 60 percent of the voting population supported the amendment.
Joe Cermatori '05, prior head of the USG Ad Hoc Committee on LGBT concerns, called the election outcome a "slap in the face."
"It was a surprise to me that it was even being put up as a referendum in so many states," Cermatori said.
He added that he felt hurt that approximately "one-fifth of the country denied something approaching equal rights for the LGBT community."
Cermatori said he thought the amendments were put on the ballot to bring out the conservative vote, particularly in Ohio.
"It seemed like a dirty trick," he said.
However, John Andrews '05 said he was satisfied with the votes.
"I'm pleased that it passed even in states like Oregon where Kerry won," Andrews said. "It's clearly not a Republican or Democrat issue. It goes deeper than that."
Ultimately, what Cermatori said concerned him more than the state measures was the fact that the "United States will be seeing another 20 to 30 years of a conservative Supreme Court," which is the ultimate decision-making entity in the legal debate.
Janis Runkle, co-chair of the LGBT Task Force, said the "LGBT Task Force is not organizing any events in response [to the election]" because student groups are principally responsible for that kind of action.
However, the Pride Alliance will not be holding any meetings or organizing any events specifically in response to the election outcomes, said Paul Pawlowski '07, a member of the alliance.
"We have to remain nonpartisan," he explained. "Our responsibility is to the LGBT community and there are members who go both ways and we don't want to alienate anyone by choosing a side."
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