Gender Reel Film & Performance Art Festival
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Gender Reel, the only coast-to-coast film & performance art festival, kicks off it’s 3rd year Sept 19-22, 2013. Gender Reel, is a festival for the community, by the community. Continue Reading
Native culture and history underlie celebration of same-sex marriage law
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Members of the Minneapolis Two Spirit Society are celebrating along with other LGBT (Lesbian/ Gay/Bisexual/Transgender) Minnesotans and preparing for the state’s Freedom To Marry law which takes effect August 1st.Sue GoodStar and her soon-to-be wife, Cherilyn Johns, were overwhelmed when news first broke in May that the legislature had passed the marriage equality bill. “I was crying. We were going to go down to Des Moines to get married but something told me to wait,” GoodStar said. The two have been together for 13 years and have always been out to their families.GoodStar, who is Dakota from Sisseton-Wahpeton, said her tribe and family are generally supportive when she is confronted with any kind of discrimination. “People would try to make comments while I was home, but my cousin Chuck would say, ‘This one’s special, leave her alone.’ I asked him what he meant by that and he said, ‘I say that because you’re winkte, they’re powerful people.’” In Dakota and Lakota, the term “winkte” is a contracted form of the word “Winyanktehca” meaning “to be as a woman” and previously applied – disparagingly – to gay men or transgender women in Dakota and Lakota society. Continue Reading
New laws in effect August 1: Same-sex marriage, added bike lane provisions, and new tenant protections
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Same-sex couples will be able to legally wed, a growing number of bicyclers will have added protections in traffic, and intoxicated teens who seek emergency medical assistance for themselves or another person won’t face a ticket under new state laws that go into effect Aug. 1.
With Defense of Marriage Act down, tax lifted for University of Minnesota employees with domestic partner
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For years, Steff Yorek has had to pay extra taxes for her partner, Jess Sundin, to be covered by the University of Minnesota’s employee health care plan.
12-year-old wedding dresses will still fit — LEGALLY, this time
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Twelve years later, the wedding dresses that Cathy ten Broeke and Margaret Miles wore for their “commitment ceremony” still fit. In the wee hours of Aug. 1, the couple plan to wear them again. But this time, their marriage will be sanctioned in law.
Same-sex marriage and the next DOMA battle
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The battle for state recognition of same-sex marriage has just begun. While many might think that the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor striking down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) represents the last judicial word on the issue, that is far from the case. Instead, that decision has changed the legal debate and strategy regarding same-sex marriage, and it still involves DOMA. Continue Reading
How will the Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act affect Minnesota’s same-sex couples?
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The United States Supreme Court released two important rulings on same-sex marriage this morning. It struck down the federal “Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)” that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. It also essentially struck down California’s “Proposition 8,” a voter referendum that revoked the freedom of same-sex couples to marry in that state. The Supreme Court ruling makes same-sex marriage legal again in California.Interviewed days before today’s ruling, a leader of one of the groups that successfully lobbied for same-sex marriage in Minnesota says the ruling could have a large impact on same-sex couples in the state. Project 515 Executive Director Ann Kaner-Roth says there are 1138 federal laws relating to marriage and if the court were to rule DOMA unconstitutional, the rights and benefits from those federal laws would be available to same-sex couples in Minnesota.Kaner-Roth says the ruling could have an impact on immigration cases where a same-sex spouse is from another country. Continue Reading
A family like any other
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Now that same sex couples can legally marry in Minnesota, how will their families look different than those headed by straight people? Not very, if the Melchert-Zimmerman family is any indication.
I went to a wedding yesterday
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The son of one of my wife’s friends and former law partner got married yesterday. I paid extra close attention because the bigots had warned of all kinds of dire consequences if marriage equality became the law. Continue Reading
OPINION | Elected to lead not be a proxy
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A while back, a young Minnesotan legislator attended a series of town hall meetings to defend a landmark vote. He had acted against the wishes of his constituents and they were livid. At a public meeting in Bayport, they screamed that he was destroying their way of life. They were convinced he had become out of touch and tarnished by the liberal tendencies of Saint Paul and Washington.