SAN FRANCISCO -- Stunned and angry, national gay rights leaders Wednesday blamed scare-mongering ads - and President Barack Obama's lack of engagement - for a bitter election setback in Maine that could alter the dynamics for both sides in the same-sex-marriage debate.
Conservatives, in contrast, celebrated Maine voters' rejection of a law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, depicting it as a warning shot that should deter politicians in other states from pushing for same-sex marriage.
"Every time the citizens have voted on marriage, they have always sided with natural marriage," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based Christian legal group. "Maine dramatically illustrates the will of the people, and politicians should wake up and listen."
Gay activists were frustrated that Obama, who insists he staunchly supports their overall civil rights agenda, didn't speak out forcefully in defense of Maine's marriage law before Tuesday's referendum. The law was repealed in a vote of 53 percent to 47 percent.
"President Obama missed an opportunity to state his position against these discriminatory attacks with the clarity and moral imperative that would have helped in this close fight," said Evan Wolfson of the national advocacy group Freedom to Marry. "The anti-gay forces are throwing millions of dollars into various unsubtle ads aimed at scaring people, so subtle statements from the White House are not enough."
The White House, asked about the criticism, had no immediate comment.
The marriage debate is simmering in at least a half-dozen states where a same-sex marriage bill is pending or where a court ruling or existing law is being eyed by conservatives for possible challenge.
Had Maine's law been upheld by voters, it would have become the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage - and the first to affirm it by popular vote. In Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Iowa, same-sex marriage resulted from court decisions or legislation.
Battles over same-sex marriage lie ahead in several states, including:
California: Last year, conservatives won public approval of Proposition 8, which overturned a state court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. Gay rights groups want to take the issue back to the voters in a new referendum.
New Jersey: The election Tuesday of Republican Chris Christie as governor puts extra pressure on gay rights supporters to win passage of a pending same-sex-marriage bill before the legislative session ends in January. Christie says he would veto such a bill, while lame-duck Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, says he would sign it.
Iowa: The state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in April, and conservatives have no quick way to overturn the ruling. Their only option would be to amend the state constitution through a ballot measure - in 2014 at the earliest - and that effort would need approval from a legislature whose current Democratic leaders don't even want to debate the issue.
New Hampshire: Conservatives have filed legislation to repeal the state's new same-sex-marriage law and amend the constitution to ban such unions.
