.... Oh What A Beautiful Day .....

When President Obama announced his support for marriage equality last May a lot of those pundits sounded the death knell for his re-election. They worried his pro-equality proclamation would hurt him with voters in the conservative South, and with minority voters.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign:

“While some pundits predicted the president’s support for marriage equality would hinder his campaign, we know the opposite is true. His reelection after expressing support for marriage equality is further proof that the momentum is on the side of marriage for all families."

Let's look at the Equality Landslide that occurred yesterday, thanks to the good folks at The Advocate:

Tammy Baldwin—who in 1998 became the first woman in Wisconsin’s history to be elected to the US House of Representatives and the first openly gay nonincumbent elected to Congress in US history—is now the first openly gay Senator in history!

Openly gay father, Jared Polis, handily won re-election to a third term in the US House of Representatives, securing 55% of the vote in Colorado's second congressional district: "I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working to get this country moving forward."

Openly gay Democrat, David Cicilline, won reelection in Rhode Island’s 1^st Congressional District. He became the nation’s fourth openly LGBT member of Congress when he was elected two years ago.

Sean Patrick Maloney, another openly gay Democrat, defeated Congresswoman Nan Hayworth to become the first openly person elected to represent New York in Congress.

Wisconsin's second congressional district has elected its second openly gay representative, a first in the nation, when Democrat Mark Pocan won last night, succeeding Tammy Baldwin, who herself made history in 1998 as the first out lesbian and first openly gay nonincumbent elected to Congress. [Before that, all openly gay U.S. House members, such as Barney Frank, had come out while already in office.]

Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, the last remaining Iowa judge who voted to legalize marriage equality, kept his job on the bench. From HRC: "It appears that Iowans have made a strong statement for judicial independence and refused to let politics get in the way of judges doing their duty to uphold the law. Anti-gay groups trying to exact political retribution on judges should learn their lesson. Marriage equality remains the law of the land in Iowa and judges like Justice Wiggins will continue to do their jobs."

Brian Sims, running uncontested, was elected to Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Tuesday—making him that state’s first openly gay legislator. Sims is widely credited with turning around Equality Pennsylvania, a once-floundering LGBT group that has since pushed successfully for municipal LGBT protections around the state.

Simone Bell, the first African-American lesbian to serve in any state legislature, was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives with 87% of the vote.

In Colorado, two  openly gay candidates--Democrat, and incumbent, Pat Steadman and Republican Michael Carr--ran against each other in what is believed to be a first for a major state race. It appears that Patrick Steadman will retain his seat in Colorado's state senate.  

Joshua Boschee was chosen to be North Dakota's first openly gay member of the state legislature. Boschee ran against two Republican incumbents, Blair Thoreson and Don Clark, as well as three other challengers to win 26.13% of the vote. 

And last, but oh so certainly not least ....

In the final hours of November 6, Washington state became the ninth state to legalize marriage equality, with 51.78% of voters approving Referendum 74, and 48.22% of voters rejecting the referendum, according to the state's official report.

Minnesotans rejected the constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex couples from marrying, according to results that were confirmed early Wednesday morning.

Maryland voters made history by becoming one of the first in the nation's history to affirm marriage equality at the ballot box, upholding  the state's marriage equality law with 57.9% of the vote in favor, 42.1% opposed.

Maine voters also made history by affirming same-sex marriage. The state reversed a 2009 ban on marriage equality by approving Question 1 by a margin of 54% to 46%.