If the mainstream media were on our side--or even fairly reporting what's happened--you would know that extraordinary strides have been made in public response for marriage in Maryland and Rhode Island.

Last week the mainstream media's talking point was: One senator in Maryland allegedly switched his vote BECAUSE of the people's testimony on our side.

Well, that senator scheduled his media conference before the testimony.

That's really all you need to know. There was a carefully planned narrative which somehow instantly dominated the headlines with this message: If you support marriage as the union of one man and one woman you are nasty, brutish, mean--and probably short, too.

It's pretty extraordinary for a politician to forthrightly condemn so many good people who disagree with him.

Here's the video--thanks to the gay press--of our own Maggie Gallagher's testimony in Maryland.

But here's the more important point:

They said gay marriage was a done deal in both Maryland and Rhode Island.

In Rhode Island, the House was supposed to be the easy part. Instead, last week, because of an extraordinary outpouring of public support for marriage, the bill has been pulled in Rhode Island, with the House Speaker saying it is “too soon” for a vote. Here's one story about how NOM-RI has changed the debate.

Here's fighting Joe Cavanaugh testifying in Rhode Island, in a local news report.

It's amazing that so many good people of all races and creed and colors are coming out to support marriage!

Here's a photo of another senator who surprised folks by announcing he's voting to uphold marriage, Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-Prince George's). The Washington Post reported, “'It might have a lot to do with my background, coming up in the South, coming up through the churches,' Currie, the son of a North Carolina sharecropper, said in an interview. 'That has as much to do with it as anything.'”

We do not know yet what the results will be in Maryland. We do know the fight is great, the public outpouring is intense--and in the end, in Maryland we have the referendum process.

We are optimistic!