Minnesota Senate Votes to Allow Same-Sex Marriage

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Minnesota Senate Votes to Allow Same-Sex Marriage

After a day of passionate yet respectful speeches on both sides of the issue, the Minnesota State Senate voted 37-30 to legalize same-sex marriage today, overcoming the last hurdle before the bill moves on to Gov. Mark Dayton, who supports giving same-sex couples the freedom to marry.

Minnesota would join 11 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing same-sex marriage, meaning that about 18 percent of the country’s population has the option to marry regardless of gender.

As in the case of several other states that have passed similar measures in the past two months, one Minnesota lawmaker brought a personal connection to the fight.

State Sen. Scott Dibble, who championed the bill, married his husband, Richard, in California in 2008, but the state he represents has not recognized their marriage. Dibble posted the story of their relationship and photos of the wedding on his website.

“We were lucky to be able marry during the narrow window in 2008 when all marriages were legal in California,” Dibble wrote. “The effect of that occasion was more profound than we could have imagined. Our family, who had always been loving and supportive, understood us and had a connection to our relationship in a way that just didn’t exist previously. Marriage is simply meaningful in ways that nothing else is.”

Several senators told stories of gay brothers, sisters and friends during the debate leading up to the vote on the Senate floor.

Sixteen years ago, a personal plea failed to win over Minnesota legislators. Then-Senate President Allan Spear, who died in 2008, argued in 1997 against the state’s then-pending gay marriage ban by speaking openly of his relationship with his gay partner on the Senate floor. Spear’s impassioned plea fell on deaf ears that day, and the legislation became law of the land.

But almost two decades later, “Minnesota nice” now extends to same-sex couples. The first hint that this day would come for the North Star state appeared in November when voters rejected a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.

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[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

In a related story:

Lake ice avalanche crashes into homes in Minnesota

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

In a related story:

Lake ice avalanche crashes into homes in Minnesota

I guess God is angry with MN?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I guess God is angry with MN?

He'll get over it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

He'll get over it.

Many of his supposed followers won't. Shouldn't he tell them to get over it, too?

[Bugs 455]

Many of his supposed followers won't. Shouldn't he tell them to get over it, too?

They won't listen. Jesus had better things to talk about, yet they still focus on something he didn't talk about at all.

[BaBamSam 239]

They won't listen. Jesus had better things to talk about, yet they still focus on something he didn't talk about at all.

I'll never understand exactly this.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

this country's in the sh!tter.