Marriage News Watch: May 20, 2013

Another Victory For Equality In Minnesota

By a vote of 37-30, the Minnesota state Senate has passed marriage equality. It has already passed the House and Governor Mark Dayton will sign the bill.

Marriage News Watch: May 13, 2013

Minnesota Senate Takes on Marriage Equality

The Minnesota state Senate is expected to vote on the state's marriage equality bill. The bill is expected to pass, but the debate can be heard from two sources beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern (noon local):

Star Tribune newspaper

The Minnesota state senate website

Victory in Minnesota!!!

With a vote of 75 to 59, Minnesota's marriage equality bill passed in the state House.

The Changing Landscape of Marriage Equality: UPDATE!!!

Today is the day in Minnesota. At 12:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. eastern), the Minnesota House will vote on a bill to legalize marriage quality in the state. This vote is the biggest hurdle that the bill has, but hopes are high. The House is split 73-61 in favour of Democrats, so even if a few Democrats defect on an otherwise party-line vote, the bill will have a great chance of passage. Support is strong in the state Senate, and if the house passes the bill, the Senate will have a vote on it come Monday. Governor Mark Dayton has repeatedly expressed his support for equality.

Not to get too ahead of ourselves, but let us look at the significance of what marriage equality in Minnesota would mean. There is the obvious fact that there will be yet another state where marriage equality will be the law of the land. There is also the fact that this would be a huge turnaround for the state. Currently, Minnesota has a statute barring marriages of same-sex couples. Just last year, the state was on the verge of adding to that a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. The constitutional measure failed in the November elections of 2012. We have gone from that to the state being poised to endorse marriage equality in a matter of half a year. If anything is indicative of the national shift on this particular issue, Minnesota is it.

There is also a geographic importance. As it stands, marriage is primarily coastal. Of the eleven states (plus D.C.) where it has been legalized, they are all on/near the coast except one. The heartland of America is pretty much devoid of marriage equality, Iowa being the exception to that rule. Minnesota can change that as could another midwestern state on the verge of equality, Illinois (Illinois is still working on getting sufficient support in the state House). These states could give equality a very strong foothold in the Upper Midwest and change the landscape of the fight for equality in a very important way. Opponents will not be able to say that gay marriage is primarily supported by coastal elites. Middle America will have undeniably shown its support for equal rights and yet another talking point of the anti-gay sect will be thrown down.

There was an article on Buzzfeed earlier this year that listed twelve states which could legalize marriage equality between 2013 and 2014. Two of those states - Delaware and Rhode Island - have already done so. Hopefully Minnesota will follow their lead. We will have a clearer picture in a few hours. You can watch the floor debate and the vote live HERE.

UPDATE: The bill passed the house by a vote of 75 to 59.

Minnesota To See Marriage Equality Bill Introduced

From Gay Star News:

[Minnesota State Senator Scott] Dibble says he has plans to introduce a bill to legalize gay marriage in Minnesota this week, according to the CBS affiliate in St. Paul.

'It’s just simply an amendment that removes the restriction that disallows some couples from getting married,' Dibble says. 'My strong sense, even from folks in greater Minnesota, is that they’re comfortable with this, they know that Minnesota has changed a lot and is continuing to change at a very rapid pace.'

Governor Mark Dayton has said he will sign a bill legalizing same-sex marriage if it passes both houses of the state legislature.

From almost banning marriage equality constitutionally to having a marriage equality bill introduced, a turn around of about three months. Good luck to the Minnesota legislature getting this passed.

Marriage News Watch: January 28, 2013

Marriage News Watch: January 7, 2013

Lowlights & Highlights: January 5, 2013

The victims of Hurricane Sandy are still in need. Many people of the New York/New Jersey area are dealing with bitter cold, homelessness, joblessness, etc. A $60 billion aid package has been on the table for months. There is a bill known as the Violence Against Women Act that has been renewed time and time again without incident. The Senate has already dealt with both of these pressing issues. The GOP-led House of Representatives, however, refused to deal with them in the waning hours of the 112th Congress. Now, VAWA is dead (or has to start over entirely) and the Sandy aid package is weeks away from passage. It is probable the 9.7 billion of it will be passed shortly, but that is a relative drop in the bucket for an area hit by a perfect storm.

To top all of this off, here are two things that the House in the 113th Congress (still led by Republicans) did in its opening day. More money has been authorized for the House to defend the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in court. Originally, only 1.5 million was appropriated, later expanded to 2 million, and now it will be expanded even further. It is hypocritical that a party that talks so much about states rights is defending a federal law which subjugates the nine states that have seen fit to recognize full equality. The other issue the House has already introduced is about the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Rep. Michele Bachmann introduced this gem: a bill to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. Here is the kicker: this has already been attempted well over 30 times. It is a measure that, even if it passes in the House, is still dead in the water. The Democrats hold the Senate and President Obama clearly will not sign it.

It is partisan showboating. Instead of helping millions in need in the Northeast and battered women, this is what House Republicans are doing. Jon Huntsman was right, this party is devoid of a soul.

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Building on the momentum of 2012, marriage equality is off to a sprint in 2013. This week, the legislatures of Illinois and Rhode Island both saw marriage equality bills introduced. In Illinois, the measure has already passed out of committee. In both states, it is very likely that these measures can pass out of the legislatures which have Democratic majorities and even supportive Republicans (the Illinois GOP chair endorsed the law) plus both states have governors that have publicly stated their support.

It should be noted that National Organization for Marriage (Discrimination) co-founder Brian Brown has issued a threat to any Illinois Republicans that support the measure. However, a similar threat was issued when New York state took up marriage equality and NOM was less than victorious in both the marriage vote as well as the retribution they promised. Their threats show their desperation.

Also in Minnesota, it was announced that a marriage equality bill would be introduced within the next two months. Governor Mark Dayton supports marriage equality. In Minnesota, this comes on the heals of the state's people voting down a proposed constitutional amendment to restrict marriage rights to only opposite-sex couples.

It is important not to let last year's victories give us inflated egos. 2012 was great, but we have to keep pressing forward and keep working towards full equality nationwide.

Minnesota Senator To Introduce Marriage Equality Bill

From KARE11:

The Minnesota state senator who will take the lead in that chamber on a bill to legalize gay marriage says backers will wait at least a month or two into the upcoming legislative session before they start to push it hard. 

Sen. Scott Dibble of Minneapolis says Wednesday that Democrats taking power at the Capitol next week plan to focus early in the session on what he called "kitchen-table issues" of improving the economy and creating jobs. But he says gay marriage backers in the Legislature want a vote in 2013...

Marriage News Watch: December 11, 2012

Marriage News Watch: November 5, 2012

Pastor: Marriage Equality = Hitler & Nazis

NYC Mayor Bloomberg Pledges $500k to Support Equality

From Towleroad:

The Mayor pledged $250,000 to Washington United for Marriage, $125,000 to Mainers United for Marriage and $125,000 to Minnesotans United for All Families. The pledges will help each group raise additional money by matching new contributions made in the homestretch of the campaign. If the challenge is successful, it will raise $1 million for the cause of marriage equality in the three states.

“Government has no business denying marriage licenses to a whole class of couples in Maine, Minnesota, Washington or anywhere else,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The 14th Amendment guarantees us all equal protection under the law, and marriage equality is the next big step in America’s long march of freedom. The barriers to it are bound to fall; the question is not if but when. I was proud to help support the successful effort to achieve marriage equality in New York State, and I’m proud to stand with supporters of marriage equality around the country this November.”

Marriage News Watch: October 22, 2012

Former Prop 8 Proponent Now Supports Equality

Marriage News Watch: October 8, 2012

Marriage News Watch: September 17, 2012

NFL Vikings Punter Stands For Equality

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