I rarely write diaries here at dKos, but the shift toward republican support of gay marriage in Minnesota has been quite amazingly shocking in the past couple weeks.
The first to notably come out in support was state Sen. Branden Petersen, as reported last week: GOP Minnesota legislator preparing to co-sponsor gay marriage bill
Republican state Sen. Branden Petersen is preparing to become a co-sponsor of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota.
Having a Republican co-author would be an enormous political coup for same-sex marriage advocates as they prepare to unveil their proposal in the days ahead. Petersen would become the first Republican legislator to publicly support same-sex marriage, highlighting the rapidly changing dynamics of the issue at the Capitol.
Petersen, 27, admits this is a wrenching issue for him and could be politically damaging back home. His father-in-law has been in a same-sex relationship for nearly 20 years, but Petersen says this issue has fiercely divided his family in the same way it has split the rest of the state. He started discussing the issue with colleagues, his pastor and close friends before taking his public stance.
Today, Pat Anderson, a more prominent republican also came out in support with an editorial: A Republican’s view In support of same-sex marriage
A key excerpt
While our antiquated party platform states very clearly that the Republican Party opposes gay marriage, many Republican activists feel otherwise. The so-called “Liberty” delegates especially, who are on the rise within our party, either support gay marriage or believe government has no role in dictating the issue. In either case, our platform seriously misrepresents many Republicans’ true views on marriage.
Last year, Republicans put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would have permanently deemed gay and lesbian couples as unworthy of marriage. Many of the Republican legislators who voted to add that amendment did so against their better judgment and personal feelings on the issue, and our party paid for it at the polls in November. Along with my husband and four voting-aged children, I proudly voted “no” on that amendment.
If we are truly the party of freedom and limited government, what justification is there to use the power of government to restrict people’s lives?
It's hard to believe, but these people are almost making sense. Don't get me wrong, both Petersen and Anderson (don't you like the good Minnesotan names) are still wing nuts in the extreme. However, this case shows even a blind squirrel can get things right once in awhile.
Notably the National Organization for Marriage is vowing to attack such positions. However, this does not seem to be changing anyone's mind.
The increasingly public fight over the marriage issue is revealing a growing fracture within the state Republican Party.
“The Republican Party is split on gay marriage,” said Pat Anderson, a former Republican National Committeewoman who is now interim GOP chairwoman of the Fourth Congressional District. “That’s part of the big fight within the party, between small government, liberty conservatives versus traditional conservatives.”
‘“Whether they spend $500,000 or $5 million, it is not going to make any difference in my decision, either way,” Petersen said Monday. “My vote cannot be bought.’"
For those of you from out-of-town, this really represents a big shift in state politics- again, amazingly for the better.
At the urging of socially conservative donors, the GOP-controlled Legislature voted nearly two years ago to put on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage in strictly heterosexual terms, as the union only of a man and woman. Minnesota voters rejected that amendment and also handed control of the Legislature to Democrats, dramatically reshuffling the marriage issue at the Capitol.
Let's hope for more of this.