Queer Minnesotans take note. The organizations and institutions that have made the Twin Cities an excellent place to live are about to take a huge hit.

While Representative Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville), House Speaker Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) and 26 other Representatives introduce a constitutional amendment to bar the legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Minnesota, other more realistic and far-reaching attacks are happening under the radar.

The University of Minnesota’s Queer Student Cultural Center has been reeling from a recommended 40% funding reduction announced last week by the student service fees committee, a student-run committee stacked with conservatives. I might add that the openly homophobic Students for Family Values received a recommendation for funding increase of 126%.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that members of the Minnesota Legislature are looking to sneak a measure into session that would prevent state employees (including University of Minnesota employees) from contibuting to the Community Solutions Fund by payroll deduction. This means that District 202, Minneapolis’ GLBT youth drop-in center will take a huge hit, as well as, Twin Cities P-FLAG.

This comes on the heels of significant funding decrease to HIV/AIDS service organizations, significant defunding and reorganization of the GLBT Programs Office at the U of MN, and increased legal actions by ‘christian’ student groups at the U of MN to try and legalize discrimination against GLBT persons.

And I’ve got a MAJOR midterm tomarrow morning. Thanks to Peter Bell, the Met Council, and God, I’ll probably be stranded in a snowstorm trying to find a parking spot because of the transit strike while my classmates are finishing essay #2.