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Minnesota Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill
A gay marriage supporter waves the U.S. flag and a rainbow flag. ( Photo/Jim Mone)
The
Minnesota Senate voted Monday to make gay marriage legal, the last
legislative step before Gov. Mark Dayton’s promised signature will make
the state the 12th in the U.S. to do so.
The Senate vote of 37-30
came four days after the House passed the bill on a 75-59 vote. A cheer
erupted in the chamber after the vote was announced, and spectators in a
small gallery area stood and applauded.
Minnesota will become
the first state in the Midwest to make gay marriage legal via a
legislative vote. Iowa legalized same-sex marriage in 2009 through a
court ruling.
Last week, Dayton, a Democrat, called the bill "one
of those society-changing breakthrough moments." Aides said he was
likely to sign the legislation in a ceremony Tuesday evening on the
front steps of the Capitol in St. Paul.
Under the legislation, gay couples will be able to get married starting on Aug. 1.
It’s
a rapid turnaround for gay marriage backers, who just six months ago
had to organize a massive effort to defeat a constitutional amendment
that would have banned gay marriage. The groups who defeated the
amendment quickly turned their attention to legalizing gay marriage, and
their efforts were aided by Democrats capturing full control of state
government in November.
In the last week and a half, Rhode Island
and Delaware became the 10th and 11th states to legalize gay marriage.
In Illinois, a gay marriage bill has cleared the state Senate but awaits
a House vote.
The House vote last Thursday drew more than a
thousand demonstrators representing both sides of the issue. Supporters
of gay marriage say they just want same-sex couples to have the same
legal protections and societal validation that straight couples get with
marriage.
Opponents say gay marriage undermines an important
societal building block that benefits children, and also exposes people
opposed on moral grounds to charges of bigotry
National
Gay Marriage,
illinois
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (photo: Chris Eaves)Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Urges House to Approve Gay Marriage Bill
Although
the Illinois Senate passed the bill on Valentine’s Day and a House
committee approved the measure, the full House has yet to act and vote
on the bill.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn urged
lawmakers on Thursday to approve a bill that would legalize same-sex
marriage by redefining marriage as the union of two people, instead of a
man and a woman, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Although the Illinois Senate passed the bill on Valentine’s Day and a House committee approved the measure, the full House has yet to
act and vote on the bill. Quinn, however, said he believes that there
are enough votes to get the measure to his desk.
“Illinois
passing marriage equality into law, I think, sends a great signal to
the people of our state and the people of America,” Quinn, a Democrat,
said, according to the Sun-Times. “So, it’s important that Illinois and
the House of Representatives get moving. I believe a majority exists to
get this bill passed through the House onto my desk so I can sign it
into law.”
Quinn’s comments come just after Rhode Island and Delaware both passed bills that legalized gay marriage. Minnesota is currently poised to become the 12th state to recognize same-sex marriage.
“I
think, you know, it’s time to vote,” Quinn said. “We’ve waited now
three months, and it’s, I think, plenty of time for people to reflect on
it. And now it’s time to pass it.”
Though the marriage equality bill stands a good chance of becoming law, there are still those who strongly oppose the measure. ABC Chicago reports that a coalition of African-American faith leaders have teamed
up with Cardinal Francis George and Chicago’s Catholic Archdiocese in
stopping the bill. The National Organization of Marriage, also helped
fund a recent anti-gay marriage robo-call campaign voiced by former
state senator and minister James Meeks, the Southtown Star notes.
Nevertheless, the bill’s champion in the House, Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, said the measure is “now very close” to passing.
“In
the last couple months we have seen the voters of three different
states vote for marriage at the ballot box and in the last week we saw
two other states, and probably a third today, where the legislature said
that treating people equally is the right American thing to do,” Harris
said, according to On Top Magazine. “Now the eyes of the country are on
Illinois to see if we are going to do the right thing.”Jason St. Amand
