GLAAD Executive Director Jarrett Barrios chats with Greg In Hollywood about marriage equality

I’m still putting together the photos and interviews from last night’s superb GLAAD Tidings event.

But I wanted to go ahead and first post my interview with GLAAD’s dynamic new Executive Director Jarrett Barrios.

I grabbed him for a few minutes on his way out and started off by asking for his reaction to last week’s vote in Maine which banned gay marriage in that state.

“There were two important votes in Maine and Washington [state]. We won big in Washington and lost a nail-biter in Maine. GLAAD’s media work was with Washington but I live in Boston and I volunteered in the Maine campaign and a number of us were really heartbroken to see that loss.”

I mention to Jarrett that people seemed to be particularly devastated over the Maine vote especially since many hoped it could serve as something of a reversal of what happened in California with Prop. 8.

“It’s important to keep our perspective the progress we’ve made in a place like Maine,” he said. ” Just five years go, it would have been disbelief that we would have had marriage or that had their been a vote, that it would have come this close. Remembering that I think helps put in context the work that is before us. Rather than pointing fingers at each other and accusing of people – whether it’s the president or the governor of not doing enough, I think it just shows the progress we’ve made because of the hearts and minds work, the storytelling, the campaigning door to door. We’ve just got a little more to do and we’ll win.”

“I’m an optimist,” he added. “I was very proud of the work that we did in Maine. We didn’t win but we came damned close and we’re going to win next time.”

Jarrett acknowledged the kick in the stomach feeling people felt when yet another state voted against marriage equality with the idea itself being offensive in this day and age.

“Civil rights shouldn’t be on the ballot,” he said. “People should not be able to vote on my marriage and yet, we have a tendency – at least in some states – to try and put to the ballot really what they call the tyranny of the majority. The injustice is in having it put to the vote. That it has to come to a vote gives us what our marching orders are and we just have to work harder – we all have to work harder and pull together. Not doing these circular firing squads to kill each other.”