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(Minneapolis) - The defeat in the regular 2004 legislative session of
the proposed state constitutional amendment to prohibit the legal
recognition of same-sex couples and their families marks one of the few
clear accomplishments of this session, says Ann M. DeGroot, Executive
Director of OutFront Minnesota, the state's leading organizations for
the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community and its allies.
"This is a great day for Minnesota. The defeat of this constitutional
amendment bill means that the possibility that discrimination could be
enshrined in our State's most precious and fundamental document will not
see the light of day this year," said DeGroot. "Unfortunately, the
attention paid to this divisive and ill-conceived proposal proved to be
a distraction from the many pressing concerns that Minnesotans looked to
the Legislature to address."
According to Monica Meyer, OutFront Minnesota's Public Policy Director,
polls published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in April showed that a
majority of Minnesotans agreed that the proposed constitutional
amendment was unnecessary.
"Moreover, the same poll indicated that most participants favored
creating legal frameworks other than marriage for same-sex couples and
their families – yet this amendment would have prohibited the
Legislature from doing even that," Meyer said.
Ironically, the legislative session ended just hours before
Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, six
months following a decision by that state's highest court that its
constitution required an end to discrimination in issuing such
government licenses.
"In the coming months, people across Minnesota and the country will be
watching developments unfold in Massachusetts, and will come to
understand that the real threat to our community is not same-sex
couples, or so-called 'activist judges,' but rather the continued
exclusion of entire classes of citizens from central aspects of our
society," said DeGroot. "When the sky fails to fall, we hope that the
2005 Legislature will take the opportunity to address the real needs of
Minnesotans, including the need to create a legal framework to reduce
the vulnerability of these families."
Contact:
Ann M. DeGroot, Executive Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 107
Monica Meyer, Public Policy Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 115
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