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Freedom to Marry Day, February 12, is a national event designed to bring
attention to the inequities same-sex couples and their families face
because the couples are forbidden to marry. In cities across the nation,
thousands of supporters of civil marriage for same-sex couples gathered
to mark the event. Minneapolis was no different.
About 150 people gathered at 8 a.m. in the beautifully-restored rotunda
of Minneapolis City Hall to celebrate the leadership the City has
consistently demonstrated in responding to the needs of same-sex couples
and their families.
"As far back as 1991, when Minneapolis created the state's first, and as
yet only, domestic partner registry, this city's leadership recognized
that rational public policy meant acknowledging the reality of same-sex
couples' existence, and working to assure they were recognized as full
members of the community," said OutFront Minnesota Executive Director
Ann M. DeGroot. "Two years later, the City put its money where its mouth
was by attempting to provide health care benefits to municipal
employees' domestic partners." This effort was struck down in a court
decision in 1995.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was on hand to present a mayoral
proclamation, declaring the day "Domestic Partner Registration Day" in
the city. "I'm proud to be the mayor of a city that has such a clear
dedication to affirming the basic dignity and equality of each of our
citizens, to the fullest extent of our power as a city," he said.
Freedom to Marry Day attendees fill the Minneapolis City Hall
on the morning of Feb. 12th, 2004
City Council members Robert Lilligren and Gary Schiff spoke about more
recent City efforts to acknowledge domestic partners. In 2002, Schiff
sponsored the Equal Benefits Ordinance, which requires certain
contractors with the City to provide domestic partner benefits to the
same extent they provide spousal benefits. Lilligren, who provided
critical support and guidance to the day's event, reviewed a list of
proposals sponsored in 2003 by City Council member Scott Benson, who had
a previous commitment. These proposals included domestic partners within
the City's housing, zoning, and civil rights ordinances, eliminated the
residency requirement for registering as domestic partners, and
established a "reciprocity" clause permitting couples registered
elsewhere to have those registrations recognized by Minneapolis.
State Senator Scott Dibble of Minneapolis updated the crowd on the
looming prospect of a proposal to amend the Minnesota constitution to
forbid same-sex marriage, and possibly also the very domestic partner
registry they had come to celebrate.
Carla Nathan and Jude Foster, a Minneapolis couple who, with some 50
other couples, registered as partners, told the audience what it meant
to them to register. "Some say that registration is a symbolic step,"
Nathan said, "but to us, it represents making the strongest legal
commitment to one another that the law currently provides. It's very
meaningful to us and to our relationship."
While acknowledging and celebrating the leadership Minneapolis has shown
over the years, and the manner in which it has demonstrated an
alternative, and realistic, approach to addressing the public-policy
issues facing same-sex couples and their families, OutFront Minnesota
nonetheless looks forward to the day when the benefits that flow to
families and to society in general from providing legal recognition to
these families are experienced not just in Minneapolis, but across
Minnesota and throughout the country. Between now and then, however, we
face mighty challenges, including attacks on our families in the
Minnesota legislature. While Freedom to Marry Day was covered by all of
the major network stations and much of the local print media, we still
need more visibility and education about the issues that GLBT face on a
day-to-day basis. OutFront Minnesota is mobilizing a massive turnout for
its annual GLBT Lobby Day, taking
place on Thursday, March 25, 2004, at the State Capitol Building in St.
Paul. |
