In state races, gay marriage resurfaces as issue

This election will be the first since the 1990s without a measure to ban gay marriage on any state ballot, yet the divisive issue is roiling races across the country during a time of tumult for the gay rights movement.
In Minnesota, New Hampshire, California and New York, gubernatorial campaigns have become battlegrounds for rival sides in the debate, with the Democratic candidates supporting same-sex marriage and the Republicans opposed.

In Iowa, voters will decide whether to oust three state Supreme Court justices who joined last year's unanimous decision making the state one of five where gay marriage is legal.

And in Rhode Island and California, Democratic candidates are seeking to become the fourth and fifth openly gay members of Congress. The Californian, Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, has a husband and 4-year-old twins, and would be Congress' first openly gay parent.

The races are unfolding on a rapidly shifting gay rights landscape, with activists elated by important court rulings, irked at setbacks in Washington and jolted by high-profile cases of anti-gay violence and bullying-provoked suicides.

The mixed emotions have been evident in recent days as a federal judge ordered a halt to enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The Obama administration says it agrees with the judge that gays should be allowed to serve openly. Yet to the frustration of gay activists, the administration appealed the ruling, saying it preferred that Congress repeal the policy.
"It's the best of times and worst of times," said Richard Socarides, a former Clinton White House adviser on gay rights.

"Culturally you see a huge increase in acceptance of gays and lesbians, and in the federal courts you see for the first time a willingness to embrace the Constitution as a vehicle for securing equality for gay people," Socarides said. "Yet in our nation's politics, we see essentially the opposite."

He said President Barack Obama has failed to deliver on his pledges to gays regarding marriage recognition and repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

"The president made a conscious decision coming in that these were second- and third-tier issues," Socarides said. "People were very excited by him. But he overpromised and underdelivered."

Obama said Thursday that the military policy "will end and it will end on my watch," but he acknowledged the constraints of the legal process.