 The latest on the campaign to stop the cynically named "Sanctity of Marriage" constitutional amendment involve the ELCA, women, bumper stickers and plenty more. MN United, aka the Minnesotans United for all Families campaign, is a coalition of over 150 organizations and thousands of volunteers.
This grassroots campaign faces the millions upon millions of dollars that the National Organization for Marriage will spend. They want a gay marriage ban in the constitution. If we defeat this ballot measure, this may be the last time we need to defend marriage equality -- other states are passing marriage equality laws.
The top news item is the Minneapolis Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Conference of America (ELCA) endorsed the campaign.
The annual assembly of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) passed a resolution yesterday to publicly oppose the marriage amendment in Minnesota, which would limit Minnesotans' freedoms by excluding same-sex couples.
Secondly, the campaign has organized a sub-group of MN United. The Women's Foundation of Minnesota gave $25,000 to form Women United for All Families.
"Women's leadership is essential in our efforts to defeat the anti-family amendment that would ban marriage for same-sex couples," said Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families. "The Women's Foundation of Minnesota is leading the way for women and other philanthropies to step up for all Minnesota families."
"This $25,000 grant represents our commitment to human rights for all Minnesotans. We call upon women and other state philanthropies to ensure marriage equality for all families," said Lee Roper-Batker, president and CEO of the Women's Foundation of Minnesota. "Let's be the first state in the union to say "no" to enshrining discrimination in our state constitution."
(From MN United press release PDF)
The third item is we have a winner of their bumper sticker contest. Its in the upper right corner of this post. Click on it or this link to order one for your vehicle. |
The Hennepin County Bar Association endorsed the campaign last Thursday. HCBA President Jewelie Grape said the following:
"It is core to the HCBA's purpose as an organization to actively oppose discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or preference. This action to join Minnesotans United for All Families builds upon the HCBA's longstanding record of leadership in ensuring the fairness and accessibility of the legal system."
There are events planned in NY and DC to raise money and raise the profile of the campaign. While most of the money has come from within MN, we're going to need a few (dozen) tractor trailers full of cash from outside of MN, too.
The campaign has hired a Press Secretary, Kate Brickman. Welcome aboard. |
