Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/lgbtqia/page/11/)
After a long day of rehabbing the rural Big Stone County farmhouse they’ve purchased together, Rebecca Terk and John G. White share stories and gumbo at the kitchen table in Terk’s home in Clinton. The couple, who will marry this summer, also share a core belief in the freedom to marry. Continue Reading
With less than six weeks left in Minnesota’s legislative session, supporters of same-sex marriage are forming a coalition to make such marriages legal in the state. On Wednesday, Ken Martin, the chair of Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer Labor Party, joined Independence Party Executive Committee member Matt Lewis, Former Green Party Chair Cam Gordon and Libertarian Party Chair Bob Odden to call on lawmakers to bring the issue to a vote in the House and the Senate.
Calling the current bill to allow for same gender marriages divisive, Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Red Wing) will be introducing a bill Thursday that would allow civil unions to be treated in state statute the same as marriage.
Last Friday, March 29, representatives from Shir Tikvah Congregation, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), Jewish Community Action (JCA), the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, Temple of Aaron, and Plymouth Congregational Church, among others, hosted a press conference to condemn the use of Nazi references in Minnesota for Marriage’s efforts to oppose same-sex marriage.
During last fall’s debate over the amendment to restrict the freedom to marry, one of the spokesters for Minnesota for Marriage (M4M) compared the tactics of Vote No supporters with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. M4M quickly repudiated the claim, but has revived the trope in news materials for April 7 church-based organizing. Continue Reading
So after two days of arguments before the Supreme Court, what are the prospects for legalization of same-sex marriage across the United States if not in Minnesota? The best guess right now is that there are not five votes to strike down all bans on same-sex marriage across the country but that instead potential inaction by the Supreme Court may be one of the best things to happen for those who support the right of gays and lesbians to wed. Continue Reading
On Sunday, March 17th, 2013, 200 people attended Jewish Community Action’s 11th Annual Immigrant Freedom Seder. The event brings together our members alongside allies from many different communities to tell the story of Passover and, drawing from our values, to share our plans and hopes for working together to build a more just Minnesota.
In a February 25-27, Star Tribune poll that was reported on March 6, “Fifty-three percent of Minnesotans say the state statute banning same-sex unions should stand. Only 38 percent say legislators should overturn the law this year, while 9 percent are undecided.” The is poll has generated significant discussion, with opponents of same-sex marriage contending that its results validate their argument that the rejection of the marriage amendment last fall does not translate into support for same-sex marriage in Minnesota. Supporters of same-sex marriage contend that the poll was flawed, pointing to the language or wording of the questions. Continue Reading
Minnesotans overwhelmingly defeated a proposal in November 2012 to enshrine in the state constitution that marriage is between one man and one woman. With a bill before the House Civil Law Committee that would allow for same gender marriages, amendment supporters caution lawmakers not to interpret the previous voter mandate as support for this particular bill.
By March 15, we will have a better idea of what Minnesota Democrats in the legislature are made of. But if early indications are correct, timidity, cautious, and maybe disorganized are the words that best describe the DFL majority approach to governing this year. Continue Reading