Minnesota will be the 12th state to join the marriage equality column, and the first Midwestern state to do so legislatively. (Iowa became a marriage equality state in 2009 thanks to a decision by the state Supreme Court.) Gay and lesbian couples will be able to wed in Minnesota beginning on August 1.
"Be bold and be courageous and you will never regret a day in your life. (During final debate in a message to his children.)"
– Co-sponsor of the law to legalize same sex marriage, Republican Minnesota State Sen. Branden Petersen represents a district that voted to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the constitution in the Nov. 2012 election.
"To further deny equal rights to all people would be a black eye on this institution and certainly on my own career,"
– Last fall, 62 percent of voters in Aitkin and Crow Wing County, which State Rep. Radinovich represents, voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality. Radinovich said his decision was influenced in part by widespread support for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples among younger voters
"The national momentum for the freedom to marry keeps rolling on with this joyous victory today in Minnesota. Marriage equality and Minnesota certainly make a great couple, and we are thrilled for all the Minnesotans who will soon be able to share in the celebration and responsibilities of marriage. This has been a long journey of changing hearts and minds, of breaking down walls, of shining a spotlight on our common humanity. The many years of door-knocking, phone calls and poignant conversations about why marriage matters have made a difference. The transformative nature of people talking about their love and their lives is clear, as we see in reaching this milestone in Minnesota, and in the fact that a clear and growing majority of Americans supports the freedom to marry."
-Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
