Maine's Judiciary Committee just passed marriage equality. It still has to pass both chambers and get signed by the governor but the strong vote in favor including all Democrats and a Republican is a very good sign for it's prospects.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont have all passed marriage equality. California's Supreme Court legalized gay marriage before it was invalidated by Prop 8. New Hampshire's State Senate will be voting on marriage equality tomorow and many other states including NY, NJ, RI, DE, DC, WA, CA and yes Minnesota have strong efforts for marriage equality under way. Public opinion is rapidly changing as well. A recent NYT/CBS poll showed that a remarkable two thirds of Americans favor either civil unions or marriage equality for gay couples. Numbers genius / god Nate Silver thinks that by 2024 even Mississippi will have majority support for marriage equality.
So what does that all mean for Minnesota? It means we are being left out of the march for civil rights for GLBT people. But that may change. Senator John Marty and Rep. Phyllis Kahn have introduced the Marriage and Family Protection Act which would legalize gay marriage in Minnesota with Many co-sponsors. With the DFL's big majorities in both chambers it seems likely that the Marriage and Family Protection Act could pass if brought up for a vote. But the legislative leadership is very unlikely to bring it up for a vote unless we have a governor who will sign it. Tim Pawlenty won't. So to win marriage equality in Minnesota we need to elect a pro-equality, Democratic governor. Where do our candidates stand?
John Marty: Marty is the chief sponsor of the Senate marriage equality bill so obviously he is strongly in favor.
Tom Bakk: I couldn't find anything about Bakk's stance on the issue and as a rural Iron Range legislator I honestly don't really know how he would stand on the bill. I've left a inquiry with his legislative staff.
Paul Thissen: Here's what Thissen has to say on the issue
"I support marriage equality for same sex couples. It's a basic fairness issue."
Steve Kelley: Also no public statement but I've heard he's strongly in favor and he was well liked by Stonewall DFL during his 2006 campaign.
Susan Gaertner: I had heard before that she was only for civil unions but recently I heard that she was jokingly complaining about losing tourism to Iowa over marriage equality at a Stonewall DFL event so I assume she now favors marriage equality or did all along.
Mark Dayton: Was one of 5 Senators who favored marriage equality during his time in the Senate. Strongly in favor and has been as far back as he has had a position.
Matt Entenza: Checked with his campaign and who said Matt has sponsored marriage equality legislation as far back in 1996. So he's a strong supporter (Back in 1996 even Paul Wellstone was voting for the anti-gay marriage "Defense of Marriage Act")
This is one of the most important and basic issues of our time. It's simple, do you favor discriminating against two people who love each other? No one can claim to be "pro-family" while denying basic rights to loving families. In the end it comes down to simply bigotry against gay people. I'll end with a video of the Republican Mayor of San Diego
Now it's up to you Gov. Pawlenty and the other candidates for governor, which side of the history books do you want to be on?
