Minnesota will be 12th state to allow same-sex marriage in the US! Midwest represent! :D
The Midwest often gets snarked upon by the coasts but now we have two states representing! Iowa was the third state to allow same sex marriage, and now Minnesota will join as the twelfth!
[Minnesota becomes the 12th state to legalize gay marriage and the FIRST through legislature in the Midwest!]
Iowa has allowed same-sex marriage since 2009 but it's through a Supreme Court order. It was the first state in the Midwest to allow same sex marriage, and the THIRD in the nation! (Behind only Massachusetts and Connecticut)
Minnesota has been a really interesting case study. Last election, there was an amendment to the MN Constitution up for vote which would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. The state already didn't allow same sex marriage but sources outside the state decided to push for this with big money.
Unfortunately for them, that caused an extremely effective nonprofit group to form which posed a united front against discrimination against homosexuals.
In November 2012, Minnesota became the FIRST state in the nation to shoot down a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as between only a man and a woman. The vote ended up being something like 57-43.
After that success, the nonprofit didn't let up its momentum and continued to campaign, this time to legalize gay marriage. It was thought that the House of Representatives would be the biggest hurdle, however last week it passed 75-59, with 4 Republicans voting FOR it, and I can't find the numbers but I believe 2-3 Democrats voting AGAINST it. The Senate vote was today and the news articles are already saying that Senate passed it-- 37-30, this time with 1 Republican voting FOR it, and 3 Democrats voting AGAINST it. The Governor is set to sign it tomorrow and it will go into effect August 1.
That means in just 6 months, Minnesota has gone from having a Constitutional amendment for vote that would limit marriage to be defined as between one man and one woman, to becoming the 12th state in the nation to legal gay marriage. Crazy!
In other Midwest states, Illinois is in the process of looking into legalizing same sex marriage as well! It's already passed their Senate, and it's waiting on the House of Representatives.
[What states and Native American tribes allow same sex marriage and in what order? Let me show you!]
May has been good elsewhere in the nation for this. Delaware and Rhode Island both approved same sex marriage this month as well. That means as of August 1, 2013, the states where it same sex marriage will be legal will be, in order of approval:
1) Massachusetts, May 2004
2) Connecticut, November 2008
3) Iowa, April 2009
4) Vermont, September 2009
[not a state, Washington DC, December 2009]
5) New Hampshire, January 2010
6) New York, July 2011
7) Maine, voted November 2012, legal since January 2013
8) Maryland, voted November 2012, legal since December 2012
9) Washington, voted November 2012, legal since December 2012
10) Rhode Island, voted May 2013?, will go in effect August 2013
11) Delaware, voted May 2013, will go in effect July 2013
12) Minnesota, voted May 2013, will go in effect August 2013
Plus 3 Native American tribes, which I hadn't heard about yet-- Coquille Tribe in Oregon since 2008, Suquamish Tribe in Washington since 2011, and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan since 2013.
According to Wikipedia, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have created legal unions for same-sex couples that offer varying subsets of the rights and responsibilities of marriage under the laws of those jurisdictions.
Sadly, there are still 30 states that have a constitutional amendment limiting the definition specifically to one man + one woman.
Some of my favorite quotes from articles I read:
State Senator Karen Peterson, a lesbian Democrat from Delaware, said: "If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, then you need to work on your marriage."
Minnesota House Representative, Democrat, Tim Faust, who is also a Pastor said: "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, the people that are opposed to gay marriage, at some point in their discussion, they always say, ‘My Bible says.' The question that keeps going through my mind over and over again is, do we as a society have the right to impose our religious beliefs on somebody else?"
[Minnesota becomes the 12th state to legalize gay marriage and the FIRST through legislature in the Midwest!]
Iowa has allowed same-sex marriage since 2009 but it's through a Supreme Court order. It was the first state in the Midwest to allow same sex marriage, and the THIRD in the nation! (Behind only Massachusetts and Connecticut)
Minnesota has been a really interesting case study. Last election, there was an amendment to the MN Constitution up for vote which would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. The state already didn't allow same sex marriage but sources outside the state decided to push for this with big money.
Unfortunately for them, that caused an extremely effective nonprofit group to form which posed a united front against discrimination against homosexuals.
In November 2012, Minnesota became the FIRST state in the nation to shoot down a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as between only a man and a woman. The vote ended up being something like 57-43.
After that success, the nonprofit didn't let up its momentum and continued to campaign, this time to legalize gay marriage. It was thought that the House of Representatives would be the biggest hurdle, however last week it passed 75-59, with 4 Republicans voting FOR it, and I can't find the numbers but I believe 2-3 Democrats voting AGAINST it. The Senate vote was today and the news articles are already saying that Senate passed it-- 37-30, this time with 1 Republican voting FOR it, and 3 Democrats voting AGAINST it. The Governor is set to sign it tomorrow and it will go into effect August 1.
That means in just 6 months, Minnesota has gone from having a Constitutional amendment for vote that would limit marriage to be defined as between one man and one woman, to becoming the 12th state in the nation to legal gay marriage. Crazy!
In other Midwest states, Illinois is in the process of looking into legalizing same sex marriage as well! It's already passed their Senate, and it's waiting on the House of Representatives.
[What states and Native American tribes allow same sex marriage and in what order? Let me show you!]
May has been good elsewhere in the nation for this. Delaware and Rhode Island both approved same sex marriage this month as well. That means as of August 1, 2013, the states where it same sex marriage will be legal will be, in order of approval:
1) Massachusetts, May 2004
2) Connecticut, November 2008
3) Iowa, April 2009
4) Vermont, September 2009
[not a state, Washington DC, December 2009]
5) New Hampshire, January 2010
6) New York, July 2011
7) Maine, voted November 2012, legal since January 2013
8) Maryland, voted November 2012, legal since December 2012
9) Washington, voted November 2012, legal since December 2012
10) Rhode Island, voted May 2013?, will go in effect August 2013
11) Delaware, voted May 2013, will go in effect July 2013
12) Minnesota, voted May 2013, will go in effect August 2013
Plus 3 Native American tribes, which I hadn't heard about yet-- Coquille Tribe in Oregon since 2008, Suquamish Tribe in Washington since 2011, and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan since 2013.
According to Wikipedia, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have created legal unions for same-sex couples that offer varying subsets of the rights and responsibilities of marriage under the laws of those jurisdictions.
Sadly, there are still 30 states that have a constitutional amendment limiting the definition specifically to one man + one woman.
Some of my favorite quotes from articles I read:
State Senator Karen Peterson, a lesbian Democrat from Delaware, said: "If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, then you need to work on your marriage."
Minnesota House Representative, Democrat, Tim Faust, who is also a Pastor said: "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, the people that are opposed to gay marriage, at some point in their discussion, they always say, ‘My Bible says.' The question that keeps going through my mind over and over again is, do we as a society have the right to impose our religious beliefs on somebody else?"