The "Vote No on 1" campaign had high hopes that Maine would make history Tuesday by being the first state to legalize same-sex marriage at the ballot box. Instead, it became the 31st state to vote it down.

MaineToday Media's newspapers endorsed a "no" vote on Question 1, which would have allowed a new inclusive marriage statute to go on the books. So, you can count us among those disappointed by the result.

We still believe that society has changed, and the law needs to change to keep up with it. We think that, over time, as people get used to the idea of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa, civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples will not be so alien.

We thought that time had come already, but we were wrong.

During the campaign, supporters of marriage equality said Maine was different from other states and that its independent streak and live-and-let-live ethos would be enough to carry the day.

We found that Maine is not as different as we thought.

The same television ads that scared voters in California last year into believing that "homosexual marriage" would be taught to young school children if the law changed were recycled for use in Maine. They worked there, and they worked here.

The ads were unfair because they created the false impression that changing the marriage law would control school curriculum, which remains the responsibility of local school boards.

Denials from education experts and the state Attorney General did not quiet those fears.

In the end, Election Day brought two surprises -- the size of the turnout (at least 55 percent of the state's registered voters) and the margin of victory for the people's veto (53 percent to 47 percent).

Although close, this was not the extremely close race both sides had predicted.

The "yes" vote total surpassed the vote to support marriage equality by more than 30,000 votes, and the geographical split was more extreme.

Only four out of 16 counties voted in favor of same-sex marriage, and Cumberland County was the only one of them where the race wasn't close.

Clearly, if the state votes on another same-sex marriage measure, a lot of work would be needed to get voters throughout the state familiar with the idea that families can and do take many different forms.

In the meantime, same-sex marriage supporters should consider a proposal that their opponents made during the campaign: They would support civil unions to same-gender couples that convey the same rights and responsibilities of marriage, as long as the word "marriage" is not attached.

Separate but equal is not equal, and civil unions should not be where this ends. But, as the leaders of the same-sex marriage campaign said Wednesday, this is going to be a long journey.

The political reality in Maine may mean that it has to be taken in small steps.

One approach would be getting the legal protections first, and going back for the dignity and respect that comes with the word "marriage" later.

Maine was not ready to make history Tuesday, but the struggle for equal protection under the law for all of its citizens should keep moving forward.