70 Methodist ministers pledge to marry same-sex couples, defy denomination’s ban

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An anti–gay marriage amendment that will appear on the 2012 ballot is already causing ripples in one Christian denomination. At an annual meeting of Minnesota’s Methodist churches this weekend, 70 ministers signed a statement pledging to marry any same-sex couples who seek such a union within the church. There are 365 Methodist churches in Minnesota, and the number of pastors making the pledge continues to grow. Methodist clergy are currently prohibited by the denomination from marrying same-sex couples. Rev. Bruce Robbins, pastor of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, brought a statement up at the conference that read: We joyfully affirm that we will offer the grace of the Church’s blessing to any prepared couple desiring Christian marriage. Continue Reading

GOP owes 20 Minnesota counties for Emmer recount costs

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The Republican Party of Minnesota owes nearly 20 counties payment for expenses incurred by the counties during the 2010 recount between Tom Emmer and Gov. Mark Dayton. The fact that so many counties haven’t been reimbursed in seven months led one Republican senator to offer to pay some of the bills out of his own pocket. The Rochester Post Bulletin got a hold of a letter by Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, that called the GOP debt to the counties an embarrassment. “This is embarrassing and painfully indefensible. This damages us not just on the local level, but statewide as well,” he wrote to GOP caucus leaders. Continue Reading

NOM, Family Council register to begin fundraising for marriage battle

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The National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council have registered with the state campaign finance board to actively encourage voters to support an anti–gay marriage amendment on the 2012 ballot. The organizations are the target of an investigation by the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board following a complaint that both groups failed to disclose lobbying efforts in the 2010 election. MFC and NOM created Minnesota for Marriage and registered it as a ballot question committee late last week, a designation that will allow it to begin fundraising. John Helmberger, CEO of the Family Council, is listed as the chair of Minnesota for Marriage as well as its treasurer. Brian Brown, head of the National Organization for Marriage, registered as a lobbyist with the campaign finance board in early May, less than two weeks after the Minnesota Independent reporting on a pending investigation with the board over alleged lobbying violations. Continue Reading

Independence Party speaks out against anti-gay marriage amendment, Libertarians and Dems have already come out against GOP effort

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The Independence Party of Minnesota is the latest political party in Minnesota to oppose a proposed ballot initiative that would write a ban on same-sex marriage into the Minnesota Constitution, and it’s the second party with major party status here to oppose the measure.IP leaders released a video explaining their opposition to the amendment, and the chair of the party released a statement urging Minnesotans to vote “no” in November 2012. Already, the DFL and Libertarian Party have called on voters to reject the amendment, while the Green Party of Minnesota has long supported full marriage equality for same-sex couples.IP chair Mark Jenkins cited the party’s platform: “We oppose having the government impose state-sponsored morality or values on people of good conscience with differing views.”“This is why I oppose legislation or a constitutional amendment that puts any government imposed definition on a religious sacrament.”The Independence Party, always seeking the middle ground, spelled out the reasons why the “radical right” and “liberal left” are not being reasonable on the issue of gay marriage.“If we can focus our attention on the issues of civil rights instead of marriage, we may extend the rights all of our citizen’s deserve without threatening the sacrament of marriage,” wrote Jenkins. “I’m pretty optimistic that this could work. I hear that individual rights have a big following in conservative circles. If conservatives stay true to their beliefs, gays may just find conservative allies in the pursuit of their individual rights.”Jenkins said, “I ask members of the Independence Party, and all Minnesotans, to oppose and work to defeat an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that outlaws same sex marriage.”The party also put out a video opposing the amendment:The DFL has come out against the amendment and the party’s chair, Ken Martin, released this video promising the DFL would fight the amendment “with everything we have.”While the Green Party of Minnesota has not yet weighed in on the amendment, it has a meeting this weekend. Continue Reading

National groups demand Anoka Hennepin School District address bullying

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The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights sent a letter to the Anoka Hennepin School District on Tuesday demanding that the school district abandon its “neutrality policy,” which bars discussion of LGBT issues in district schools, and step up efforts to address bullying and harassment. The district has been at the center of a firestorm in the last year as a rash of suicides by LGBT students and reports of bullying created a sustained protest by parents in the district on both sides of the issue. In the letter, the SPLC and NCLR state that the district is violating federal law by not creating a safe educational environment and and indicate they’ll file a lawsuit if the situation is not rectified. “While we appreciate that the District has recently taken some superficial steps to address bullying, our investigation confirms that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (‘LGBT’) students and those perceived as LGBT within the District remain in jeopardy in a hostile and alienating environment,” the groups wrote. “School authorities’ failure to adequately respond to ongoing harassment violates established law and our clients’ constitutional rights.” The groups referenced three current and former students who suffered relentless bullying and harassment in Anoka-Hennepin schools. Continue Reading

Wal-Mart, Salem radio dump Bradlee Dean

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Wal-Mart and Salem Communications have severed ties with two entities run by pastor Bradlee Dean, who made headlines last week for a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House of Representatives. David Brauer reports that AM 1280 The Patriot, owned by Christian broadcaster Salem Communications, dropped Dean’s “Sons of Liberty” radio show, and Nick Pinto writes that Wal-Mart has told Dean’s ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, that it can no longer fundraise in the parking lots of its Minnesota locations. MinnPost’s Brauer notes that Dean was fired from AM 1280 before he gave his controversial speech before the House. The station pulled Dean after he engaged in a six-minute song mocking African Americans and then likened President Obama to Osama bin Laden. “For a minister to do that made no sense,” station manager Ron Stone told MinnPost. Continue Reading

Citing lack of compromise, Dayton vetoes GOP budget bills

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As expected, Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed all budget bills Tuesday that were submitted by the Republicans. His message to the GOP: “Compromise.” Dayton also hit Republicans for including divisive social issues in their budgets. In the higher education bill, Dayton said he wouldn’t accept restrictions on stem cell research, a provision that was heavily debated in the Legislature. Republicans, and a few DFLers, moved to include a ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer, as well as all products from that procedure in University of Minnesota research, in the budget bill. “The definition included in the bill is vague and could threaten further development of stem cell research,” Dayton said. Continue Reading

As Democrats file complaint over controversial prayer, Bradlee Dean slams GOP’s Zellers

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The decision to allow anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean to give the opening prayer before the Minnesota House on Friday sent shockwaves through the Legislature, and the reverberations from that decision continued over the weekend. Democrats filed a complaint on SunTC Daily Planet [nid:14852]day after House Speaker Kurt Zellers moved to strike Dean’s name from the official record. Meanwhile Dean, after skipping his own press conference on the matter, took to the airwaves to slam Zellers for not defending him. Dean said he didn’t understand why people thought he targeted President Obama in his prayer. “I know this is a non-denominational prayer in this chamber and it’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans,” Dean said in his invocation in the Minnesota House. Continue Reading

GOP’s anti–gay marriage amendment heads to 2012 ballot

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The Minnesota House passed a bill late Saturday night that would put a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2012. Four Republicans broke with their party to vote against the bill, while two DFLers joined the Republicans in voting for it. Following the vote, opponents of the amendment launched a new group, Minnesotans United for All Families, with the hope of defeating the ballot measure in 2012. Republican Reps. Steve Smith of Mound, Rich Murray of Albert Lea, Tim Kelly of Red Wing and John Kriesel of Cottage Grove voted against the amendment. Continue Reading

Bipartisan outrage erupts over GOP’s invite to Bradlee Dean to give House prayer

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A prayer at Friday’s session of the Minnesota House given by anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean erupted a firestorm of criticism among DFL legislators and some in the GOP. Dean, whose fiery brand of anti-LGBT preaching riled opponents of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer last fall, led the House in prayer, asserting that President Obama was not a Christian. Republican leadership, sensing controversy, asked the official House chaplain to conduct an unusual second prayer. Minnesota’s LGBT legislators said Dean’s anti-gay preaching “reveals the underlying hateful nature of the anti-gay constitutional amendment movement.” In his prayer, Dean said, “I know this is a non-denominational prayer in this Chamber and it’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans. Or the Presbyterians the evangelicals or any other denomination but rather the head of the denomination and his name is Jesus. Continue Reading