After Minnesotans voted against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, Sen. John Marty will push for full marriage equality with the introduction of a bill to the state senate in January.
In addition, Minnesotans United for All Families will turn into a lobbying group to urge Minnesota lawmakers to pass the bill.
According to KARE11:
Sen. Marty will introduce a bill that would do away with Minnesota’s current Defense of Marriage Act, which passed easily in 1997, and defines marriage as solely a union between one man and one woman.
“I think the time is right. I think people are ready for it,” Marty said. “I think we’ve had some wonderful conversations around the state, and people’s minds are changing.”
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“We don’t wait to give people their rights until everybody says okie-dokie we’re fine with it.,” he added. “We give people rights now. We’ve waited too long already and the public actually did ratify what we’re trying to do.”
Though Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton supports signing such a bill, he and other top Democrats have been reluctant to openly endorse a gay marriage push next year, the AP reports, citing the state budget deficit as a greater priority.
Meanwhile, anti-marriage equality group Minnesota for Marriage has pledged to undertake a vigorous grassroots campaign to deter Sen. Marty’s proposed legislation.
“I think we still have a lot of work to do to spark conversation about why marriage matters, and why we shouldn’t limit the freedom to marry,” Minnesotans United’s Roger Carlborn told Twin Cities. “But at the end of the day, voters will reward those who grant freedom and punish those who try to limit it.”
Cj
I hope this is successful 🙂
alterego1980
GOOD. I think regardless of how the courts work things out, all legislators in all the “blue” states at a minimum should be having this conversation. Our chances are best in these states…
ryanthehulk
This will do nothing but good for the state. I imagine many prospective couples would much rather spend a weekend getting married in the Twin Cities (the gay mecca of the upper Midwest) than taking a trip to Iowa.
FStratford
of course they should tackle the budget as a priority. but you can legislate more than 10 things at the same time, cant you?
TrekBear
@Fstratford: It depends on how many Republicans are in MN’s legislature and the
parliamentary rules in each chamber as to whether or not 10 things can be legislated at once.