|
The Facts:
State Senator Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater) and State Representative
Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville) announced at a press conference today,
Nov. 20th, that they plan to propose legislation to amend the state
Constitution to require, for the first time ever, overt discrimination
in the form of a ban against same-sex marriage. The proposed legislation
would duplicate the language from Minnesota’s so-called "Defense of
Marriage Act", passed in 1997, to enshrine discrimination and inequality
in Minnesota's Constitution. In order to change the state's
Constitution, a majority of the Legislature would have to vote in
support of the amendment this Session, followed by a majority vote by
voters in the 2004 elections.
Read today's full press release.
What Can I Do?
The next Legislative Session begins February 2, 2004. GLBT and allied
communities must begin working now to thwart this attack on the
fundamental democratic principle of equal rights for all. Today and this
weekend, we all need to call, email and write our legislators and
Governor Pawlenty to let them know that Minnesotans do not support
twisting our state's Constitution to mandate inequality! This weekend
and into the Thanksgiving holiday, we are calling on GLBT and allied
people to generate at least five other responses against this proposed
amendment. We stopped the attempted roll-back of GLBT civil rights
protections this past year by mobilizing GLBT and allied people from
around Minnesota - we can do it again!
Contact your elected officials (and encourage fair-minded Minnesotans
from your neighborhood, workplace, school, family, and place of worship
to do so as well) to tell them:
- I am contacting you to voice my strong opposition to the proposed
Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.
- I oppose enshrining discrimination against same-sex couples in our
state's Constitution. The Constitution is supposed to be about
guaranteeing equality, not denying it.
Contact Information:
Governor Tim Pawlenty
Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
Tel: (651) 296-3391 or (800) 657-3717
Fax: (651) 296-2089
tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us
Find contact information for your
state legislators.
Please contact OutFront Minnesota's Public Policy Department with any
questions and comments at
citizenq@outfront.org. |
