With no messiahs to elect today, and only cranky small-time officials to vote for, most people don’t care about voting day — except for a lot of LGBT folks. Maine votes on a popular referendum to decide the fate of same-gender marriage in the state while Washington state voters get to decide whether or not to repeal a wide-ranging domestic partner law. New Jersey Governor John Corzine (a recent, but strong supporter of same-gender marriage) faces a tough re-election fight against a right-wing opponent. Kalamazoo, Michigan votes on a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

But will victories in all these elections spell the end of the (queer world)? A roundtable at Billerico says yes, but the comments section disagrees. A good read, that.

With some polls suggesting the Maine race is in a dead heat, big-time Democratic fund-raiser and National Equality March organizer David Mixner points an early finger at Obama for not telling his moderate supporters to vote against the ballot innitiative:

So you fully understand the consequences of this administrations actions in the last week, just look at the statistics for Maine voters. In the latest Public Policy Poll yesterday which show us falling behind, they said that 54% of the voters say they supported Obama. Over 9% of the voters described themselves as ‘non-white’. In that poll 28% of the Obama supporters say they were voting against marriage equality. More importantly, 56% of ‘non-white’ voters said they planned on voting against marriage equality.

Love the logic, David.

Elsewhere…

Wisconsin – The state’s Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on same-gender marriages. The suit is on appeal after being dismissed by a lower court that said William McConkey of Baileys Harbor, WI did not have standing to challenge a constitutional amendment. (WLUK-TV)

Oregon – LGBT rights activists launch a voter education campaign that will culminate in a referendum to overturn the state’s 2004 vote banning same-gender unions. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Missouri – Apparently fearful of loosing in arbitration, the Kansas City Chiefs cut running back Larry Johnson’s two week suspension (worth about $630,000 to Johnson) in half. Johnson was suspended after he called reporters “”faggots”. (Lawrence Journal-World)

D.C. – The Washington Times reports on leaks from the Pentagon that General James Conway, head of the Marine Corps, is leading the charge against a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. As Aaron Belkin at the Huffington Post writes, this could either be bad news – a democracy where generals actively oppose their civilian commander’s agenda – or an orchestrated leak to give the administration political cover for going slow. (The Washington Times, The Huffington Post)