Gay-rights advocates hope that an Election Day sweep of ballot measures approving same-sex marriage will give Illinois a boost to pass similar legislation here.

Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, ending a 32-state losing streak dating to 1998, in which gay marriage had been rebuffed in every state where it went to voters. In Minnesota, voters rejected a proposal to place a ban on gay-marriage in the state constitution.

The three states join six others and the nation’s capital in legal recognition of same-sex couples’ marriages.