Religious right lawyers defend Anoka-Hennepin schools’ LGBT policy

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Lawyers for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a national conservative Christian legal organization, sent a letter to the Anoka-Hennepin School District this week urging it to maintain its “neutrality policy” on sexual orientation. The letter (PDF) comes in response to a possible lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Council for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), two groups that have accused the district of creating an unsafe environment for LGBT students. The ADF argues that no changes are needed in the district.Reports of suicides and bullying of LGBT students have touched off national concerns in the Anoka-Hennepin district, particularly over a policy that prevents teachers from discussing LGBT issues in the classroom. The SPLC and NCLR view that policy as contributing to an unsafe environment for LGBT students and have threatened to file a lawsuit if the policy isn’t changed. The ADF told the district that the two groups are only trying to promote a narrow agenda, not help the district’s students and accused the groups of exploiting student suicides.“SPLC and NCLR’s letter plainly misinterprets the district’s policy, is inaccurate as to the law, and is heavy on hyperbole,” ADF wrote that the lawsuit threats “create the inescapable impression that these groups are trying to use the recent tragic suicides of several students who attended District schools to push their narrow political and social agenda.”The ADF also argues that the “neutrality policy” does not single out LGBT students, a claim that is at odds with both the history of the policy and its current use.The ADF wrote:SPLC and NCLR wrongly claim that the Policy “singles outs LGBT students” for disfavored treatment, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Continue Reading

DFL launches campaign focusing on gay and lesbian families

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As a battle over a ballot initiative that would place a ban on same-sex marriage in the Minnesota Constitution continues, the DFL is launching a campaign Friday to highlight why marriage is important to all families, including those headed by gay and lesbian couples. Called “Pride in Minnesota Families,” the campaign coincides with the beginning of Twin Cities Pride, a weekend-long series of events celebrating Minnesota’s LGBT community and its supporters.“Marriage is about creating a family, sharing a life together and being able to marry the person you love –that is no different for gay and lesbian couples than it is for straight couples,” DFL Chair Ken Martin said in a statement on Friday. “Families come together in many different forms to love, support and care for each other, and with these videos we’re highlighting the stories of Minnesotans and what family means to them. Because, in all its different forms, a family is about love.”The video campaign focuses on five families. Randi and Phil Reitan spoke about their desire to see their son, Jake, get married to the person he loves, something he’s not legally able to do in Minnesota.Denny Smith of St. Continue Reading

GOP pressed for abortion, stem cell research bans during budget negotiations

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During budget negotiations the week before Friday’s government shutdown, Republican leaders pressed Gov. Mark Dayton to include a ban on abortions at 20 weeks gestation, a ban on taxpayer-funded abortions and a ban on some forms of stem cell research. Even as the shutdown of Minnesota government had begun, the principal anti-abortion lobby, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, continued to push its agenda.MinnPost’s Doug Grow notes that the controversial issues were included in budget talks:In the end, Republicans and Dayton weren’t only separated by fiscal issues. Republicans apparently were still loading bills with other goodies from their platform. In the final days of negotiations, Republicans were still insisting on legislation supporting voter ID and restrictions on abortion and stem cell research in their talks with Dayton.After the talks had collapsed, Koch said those were matters that could have been “hammered out” with just a bit more negotiating. Fiscal issues were the key divide, she said.The Star Tribune noted the same:Talks may have also broken down because an earlier GOP offer asked Dayton to accept controversial policy positions the Republicans pushed for this year, including photo ID requirements at the polls and abortion restrictions. Continue Reading

Marcus Bachmann donated to campaign for constitutional ban on gay marriage

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According to State of Minnesota records, Dr. Marcus Bachmann has provided financial support to the Minnesota Family Council’s successful lobbying campaign to get a constitutional ban on gay marriage onto the ballot in 2012. The amendment was the brainchild of his wife, Rep. Michele Bachmann, who officially announced on Monday that she was running for President of the United States.Dr. Bachmann provided financial support to the Minnesota Family Council in its efforts to lobby Minnesota Republicans to pass the constitutional amendment. According to Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board records, he donated in 2009 and 2010. The document only provide the names of individuals and corporations who have donated to lobbying campaigns, not the amounts donated. The Minnesota Independent will be looking into other donors to the campaign in coming days.Marcus Bachmann runs a Christian counseling clinic that has been accused of conducting “ex-gay therapy,” but confirmation on that point has never been made.In 2006, City Pages reported that Dr. Bachmann attended a “Minnesota Pastors’ Summit” hosted by the Minnesota Family Council, a group that has compared being gay or lesbian to bestiality and pedophilia. Continue Reading

Local, national Catholics to ramp up ‘language’ war on same-sex marriage

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At its June meeting last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced it was ramping up a campaign against same-sex marriage. Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of the Subcommittee for the Defense of Marriage said the Roman Catholic church would push back in the war of “language,” which he said same-sex marriage proponents were winning with words like “hate” and “equality.” The church is planning a video campaign in both English and Spanish, and its efforts have already been felt in states like Minnesota where the church was successful in getting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot.“Strategies of language are crucial here, and what we see happening in the marriage debate with terms such as ‘equality’ is similar to the manipulation of language found in the pro-abortion rhetoric of ‘choice,’” Bishop Cordileone said at the Bellvue, Wash., conference.Cordileone, who was appointed to the Subcommittee for the Defense of Marriage in January, says the church plans to increase production of a series of videos intended to change Catholics’ minds on same-sex marriage.“To be considered and labeled a ‘bigot’ or ‘discriminator’ by the government and by law has serious implications for the religious liberty of both institutions and individuals and their freedom of conscience,” he said. “The video will seek to demythologize popular claims and call attention to what is really at stake.”That video, “Made for Freedom,” is part of a five-part video project by the church. The first is “Marriage: Unique for a Reason,” which was produced last fall. Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Continue Reading

Nationwide, state Republicans increasingly back gay rights

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Nationally, Republican support for gay marriage has been on the rise, made clear this year as various states grapple with efforts to ban gay marriage while others move to legalize it. In several states, GOP leaders’ votes made the difference on key LGBT equality measures. In New York, the Legislature is poised to approve same-sex marriage making it the third state to do so legislatively, following Vermont and New Hampshire. Republican donors are backing the effort, and it’s up to GOP legislators to pass the bill; several Republicans have come out in support, though the vote remains close. In Iowa, former state Sen. Jeff Angelo launched Iowa Republicans for Freedom, a campaign for conservatives and Republicans that support same-sex marriage. Continue Reading

Dayton tells marriage amendment opponents ‘It will be defeated’

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Gov. Mark Dayton told opponents of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that he would do everything possible to defeat the measure on the ballot in 2012. Dayton spoke Monday night at the first official fundraiser for Minnesotans United for All Families, a coalition of groups that oppose the amendment. The event also featured John Taft, CEO of RBC Wealth Management, a self-described Republican who said he intends to rally Minnesota’s CEOs against the amendment on the basis that it’s bad for business.“You are on the vanguard, and you have moved this cause forward with amazing speed,” Dayton told the crowd. “The wave of history is with you.”Dayton vowed that he’ll do “everything I can” to defeat the amendment and said it “violates every moral principle in my being. It is just wrong, and it’s un-Minnesotan.”“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should certainly mean the right to marry the man or woman of your choice,” he said. Continue Reading

Bachmann announces presidential campaign

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Rep. Michele Bachmann announced her campaign for president during a presidential debate in New Hampshire Monday night. Bachmann, who has been saying for months that she’s “all in” for 2012, also released a video announcing her campaign as well as an email to supporters. She filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission earlier in the day on Monday, and she’s suspended her campaign for the 6th Congressional District. “I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States, and I’ll very soon be making my formal announcement. So I wanted you to be the first to know,” Bachmann told CNN’s John King and the debate audience. Continue Reading

At shareholder meeting, Target stays neutral on gay marriage ban

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Minneapolis-based retailer Target told investors on Wednesday that the company will not be taking sides on the anti–gay marriage amendment slated for the 2012 ballot. The shareholders meeting in Pittsburgh, the first held since a nationwide boycott targeted the stores last fall over its corporate contributions to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, drew protesters critical of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and members of the LGBT community. Target’s announcement comes as Twin Cities LGBT Pride festivities get under way — an event for which Target is a major sponsor. The Minnesota Legislature passed an amendment last month that would let voters decide whether to codify a ban on same-sex marriage in the Minnesota Constitution. State voters will decide that issue in 2012, though same-sex marriage is currently illegal in Minnesota. Continue Reading

Pawlenty’s ties to Morgan Stanley execs scrutinized

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Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign and political action committee has benefited from a large amount of money from top executives of Morgan Stanley, a global financial services corporation which has been implicated in the financial and mortgage meltdown that brought about the Great Recession. A report by the Center for Public Integrity released this week scrutinized Pawlenty’s ties to top executives at the company, finding that he’s raised more than $800,000 in the last month with its help. According to the report, Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC got $79,500 from Morgan Stanley executives last year. Only Federated Insurance gave more to Pawlenty. Pawlenty has also tapped Morgan Stanley executive Bill Strong to co-chair his presidential campaign, and under Strong’s leadership, Pawlenty raised $800,000 in two events — one in Chicago and another in Texas. Continue Reading