No on 1: Those Last Horrible Hours

Photos I took while volunteering for the Maine No on 1 campaign from Oct 1 – Nov 3, 2009. Until those last horrible few hours on Election Day when a majority of voting Mainers (53%) voted away the hard won marriage equality of lgbt folk, the mood was optimistic, hopeful and building toward a celebration. Nothing I had imagined was able to prepare me for the shock and dejection that came after the last of these photos was taken; my camera had quit working an hour or so before I became aware of the polls turning in favor of Yes on 1.

When the full weight of what had happened pushed against me, I scrambled to get out of the Holiday Inn, where a celebration had been expected. But I couldn’t find my ride. As I searched through the confused crowds I noticed a young lady beginning to sob and being comforted by a friend or a might-have-been wife. My phone was dying and all my calls went to voice mail. Finally I borrowed a friend’s phone, found my ride and left the funereal disaster scene for the car where I sat alone listening to quiet music.

After so much effort – years of effort for some – had come abruptly to a dead end, my only thought was, “Now what?”