|
(Minneapolis) - Today's announcement of an extreme and divisive effort
to amend the state Constitution to bar same-sex marriages represents a
low point in Minnesota politics, says Ann M. DeGroot, Executive Director
of OutFront Minnesota, the state's leading organization serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
community.
"If approved, this proposal would for the first time actually enshrine
discrimination in our state's foundational document," declared DeGroot.
"Appealing to legislators and voters to impose inequality on a minority
is precisely the sort of abuse of democracy that constitutions were
intended to prevent."
Coming just days after a landmark ruling in Massachusetts ending
discrimination in marriage in that state, today's announcement smacks of
political opportunism, not thought-out social policy, said OutFront
Minnesota Public Policy Director Monica Meyer. "Time and again,
Minnesota voters have recoiled from efforts to mandate discrimination by
the government," she stated. "This proposal will do nothing
constructive. Because federal data show that same-sex couples live in
every county in Minnesota, this would end up pitting neighbor against
neighbor all across the state, weakening families everywhere in order to
pander to the political agenda of selected extremists."
A federal counterpart to this suggestion has generated little popular
support, observed OutFront Minnesota Legal & Policy Analyst Phil Duran.
"Although polls show that Americans are divided over the issue of
whether same-sex couples should have the same right to civil marriage as
different-sex couples, the vast majority, including marriage opponents,
reject the notion that the constitution should be changed. People seem
to realize instinctively that this is not what constitutions are
designed for."
DeGroot stated that the gay and lesbian community have engaged in a
struggle for civil rights that will not end until full equality is
achieved. "We have not let any obstacle forever prevent us from working
toward a society that values all people, and no proposal to change the
constitution will distract us from that goal," she declared.
Contact:
Monica Meyer, Public Policy Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 115
Ann M. DeGroot, Executive Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 107
|
