From
OutFront Minnesota (the primary gay political and service organization in MN), comes news that two Minnesota legislators are going to
attempt to amend the State constitutionM to bar same-sex marriages:
State Senator Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater) and State Representative Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville) announced at a press conference today, Nov. 20th, that they plan to propose legislation to amend the state Constitution to require, for the first time ever, overt discrimination in the form of a ban against same-sex marriage. The proposed legislation would duplicate the language from Minnesota's so-called "Defense of Marriage Act", passed in 1997, to enshrine discrimination and inequality in Minnesota's Constitution. In order to change the state's Constitution, a majority of the Legislature would have to vote in support of the amendment this Session, followed by a majority vote by voters in the 2004 elections.
OutFront's
press release on the topic nails it:
Coming just days after a landmark ruling in Massachusetts ending discrimination in marriage in that state, today's announcement smacks of political opportunism, not thought-out social policy, said OutFront Minnesota Public Policy Director Monica Meyer. "Time and again, Minnesota voters have recoiled from efforts to mandate discrimination by the government," she stated. "This proposal will do nothing constructive. Because federal data show that same-sex couples live in every county in Minnesota, this would end up pitting neighbor against neighbor all across the state, weakening families everywhere in order to pander to the political agenda of selected extremists."
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune makes it clear that this is the reason the bill is being pushed, and supported by House Speaker Steve Sviggum:
Minnesota law already prohibits same-sex marriage. But, concerned that "homosexual activists" would file lawsuits challenging the 1997 Defense of Marriage Act following the Massachusetts ruling, Bachmann said that passing a constitutional amendment would put the issue "beyond the reach of the judges."
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House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, who supported the 1997 law, had said earlier that he expected the House GOP leadership to simply stand by the state law for now and not push for a constitutional amendment. After talking with Holberg about the implications of the Massachusetts decision, he said he decided to support an amendment, saying it would take little time from what is anticipated to be a short legislative session.
The fact that it's not really thought out comes through when we consider that same-sex Minnesota couples will not be eligible to marry in Massachusetts. According to Massachusetts General Law 207, Section 11:
No marriage shall be contracted in this commonwealth by a party residing and intending to continue to reside in another jurisdiction if such marriage would be void if contracted in such other jurisdiction, and every marriage contracted in this commonwealth in violation hereof shall be null and void.
Since Minnesota law already bars same-sex marriages, Massacusetts will not give out licenses to same-sex couples from Minnesota.
This is simply an attack on gay folks by two bigoted legislators. Last year, during a debate on benefits for same-sex partners of state employees, Senator Bachmann actually pulled out stats from Paul Cameron, provided by the idiots at Concerned Women For America's "research" project, about lower life expectancies for gay men.
Even though I'm living in Boston, I usually proudly proclaim myself to be from Minnesota. These folks are making that a lot harder.