Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/andy-birkey/page/6/)
In Sept. 2010, Lucinda Naylor lost her position as artist-in-residence at the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis after she spoke out about Archbishop John Nienstedt’s plan to distribute 400,000 DVDs that argued against marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Reps. Karen Clark and Susan Allen, both of Minneapolis, have introduced legislation to ban “conversion therapy” for minors. Conversion therapy is used to change or suppress same-sex romantic and sexual attraction and is used almost exclusively by conservative religious organizations and therapists.
Dozens of Minnesota cities have a tradition of allowing Christian pastors to offer prayers before city council meetings, on time owned by the taxpayers. But a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could test that tradition if the high court rules that local municipalities cannot endorse religion at their meetings.
“Children are following the pied piper of perversion,” says Barb Anderson, the leader of a group opposed to Minnesota’s anti-bullying bill.
Gov. Mark Dayton has called a special session to start on Sept. 9, and as part of what he has dubbed the “unsession,” Dayton is asking Minnesotans to submit ideas to “eliminate old and outdated rules.”
Easily one of the most polarizing members of Congress and of Minnesota politics, Rep. Michele Bachmann announced early Wednesday morning that she would not be seeking reelection to her seat in Congress. She represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional district which includes St. Cloud and the suburbs north of Minneapolis and St. Paul.“Be assured, my decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being reelected to Congress,” Bachmann said in a 9-minute video posted to her campaign website. “I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual that I defeated last year.”The announcement surprised many. Continue Reading
A Valentines Day rally and a petition are the latest actions in the effort to pass marriage for same-sex couples at the Minnesota Legislature this session. In December, Minnesotans United for All Families, the main organization that worked to successfully defeat a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, announced it would be mobilizing its base to achieve marriage equality in the 2013 legislative session.
Five DFL senators offered a bill on Thursday that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in jury service. The bill would add “sexual orientation” and “marital status” to current prohibitions against discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, national origin, economic status or a physical or sensory disability.”
An August 17, the Winona Daily News posted a letter from Peter Martin who said hi
A golf ball with a homophobic word and image smashed through the window of a vehicle parked outside a church where a lesbian pastor was being named by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.