Following voter referendums in California and Maine that repealed legalized gay marriage, the State Senate dealt yet another setback to the gay rights movement, disheartening activists at Cornell and elsewhere

President of Haven, The LGBTQ Student Union, Olivia Tai ’10 called the vote “disappointing,” but also stressed that it “was never going to be a clear win.”

“Yes, we were expecting a better outcome,” Tai said, but added that the vote, which largely hinged on the internal politics of the State Senate, was not “as much of a let down as the agonizing defeat of Proposition 8 [in California],” a statewide referendum.

Yet Tai also said the vote was a “wake up call to re-strategize” for gay activists. She said that, after the recent setbacks, “LGBTQ activists realize [that the] state-by-state strategy is not working out.”

The conservative Cornell Review Editor-in-Chief William Lane ’10 stated in an e-mail that it is “virtually impossible to claim that the will of the people — who, according to all national polls, object to gay marriage –– was not represented by” yesterday’s vote.

Perhaps anticipating this call to re-strategize, those against gay marriage vehemently assert that the issue is one that must be decided by the state legislatures.

Lane said that having the issue decided by the state legislatures was imperative to “preserve states’ rights and ensure that the people’s interests are served.”

Lane attacked efforts of “activist judges” attempting to make “what is essentially a statutory question into a constitutional one.”

President of the Cornell Republicans Konstantin Drabkin ’11 drew different conclusions from the vote.

Citing eight Democratic State Senators who voted against the bill, Drabkin said the vote was indicative of the “fissures in the Democratic Party.” Drabkin said that “Democrats are fighting a non-existent obstacle to explain their inaction.”

But most gay rights activists believe, as Cornell Democrats’ President Michael Schillawski ’10 said, “time is on our side.” He stressed that the incompetence of a singular body would not stop larger trends. “Just because a piece of legislation has been defeated does not mean that the fundamental discrimination against gay people [will not be] rectified,” Schillawski said.

Schillawski, directly contrary to Lane’s assertion, said that “polls continue to show strong support for gay marriage and full equality.”

The Student Assembly’s LGBTQ Representative Matt Danzer ’12 agreed.

Although he conceded that the vote’s result “makes it increasingly difficult to remain an optimist,” he said that “the fight for equal standing before the law will continue ... We will achieve equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

All eyes now turn to New Jersey, where many expect the State Senate to hold a vote on gay marriage in the next few weeks, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Gay marriage is currently legal in Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut and Vermont. A New Hampshire gay marriage law takes effect Jan. 1.