Legislative Alert: 1/10

Proposed Anti-Marriage Amendment

Minnesota's Anti-Marriage Amendment has been introduced! A Constitutional Amendment to bar all legal recognition of same-sex couples was introduced in session last Thursday, as House File 0006 (HF006). We will need your help to defeat this Amendment and keep Minnesota a fair-minded state!

Within two days of the start of the 2005 legislative session, Mary Liz Holberg, R (36A-Lakeville), Jeff Johnson, R (43A-Plymouth), Paul Gazelka, R (12A-Brainerd), Sondra Erickson (R-16A-Princeton) and Dan Severson (R-14A-Sauk Rapids) introduced a bill in the Minnesota House, proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that "only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota. Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent."

The bill has been referred to the House Civil Law and Elections Committee, but no date for a hearing has been set. OutFront Minnesota will be coordinating all testimony in opposition to the bill. When a date has been scheduled, we will let you know!

No companion bill has been introduced in the Senate yet. We'll keep you updated on what is happening legislatively and provide resources for GLBT supporters working to stop the efforts to write discrimination into our Constitution.

One of the easiest ways to keep informed about events in Minnesota is by joining the Citizen Q Network, our statewide, e-mail activist network.

OutFront Minnesota is a non-partisan organization serving the GLBT and allied communities of Minnesota. All services including voter guides, voter information, and voter registration are made available without regard to a voter's political preference or on the basis of support or opposition to a particular candidate.