OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group, said on Wednesday that they do not support a lawsuit filed by three couples on Tuesday to overturn Minnesota’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Here is the statement by OutFront:
Yesterday, three Minnesota couples announced they are suing the state to invalidate the Minnesota Defense of Marriage Act. OutFront Minnesota is committed to securing Marriage Equality for same-sex couples in our state, but we do not support this lawsuit. We fully share the frustration and pain that families across Minnesota feel due to the exclusion and discrimination of our state marriage laws. For that reason, OutFront Minnesota is working to elect a pro-Equality legislature and a pro-Equality governor.
The road to Marriage Equality in Minnesota runs through the legislature, not the courts. Another judicial opinion reinforcing the discriminatory ruling of Baker v. Nelson (a 1971 Minnesota Supreme Court decision holding that same-sex couples were not entitled to seek marriage licenses) would set back progress in achieving justice for our families.
We urge supporters of Marriage Equality to use this year’s elections to pressure their candidates and elected officials to enact full Marriage Equality for same-sex couples in 2011.
As a gay Minnesotan, married to my husband of nearly ten years, I find the outpouring of obvious animosity from OutFront Minnesota ’s representatives and State Senator Scott Dibble toward a group of same-sex couples challenging the state’s discriminatory marriage laws in court, to be very troubling. I should think they would be as thrilled as I am that after 40 years of bad law on the books with regard to marriage equality, that it is finally being challenged. Let’s remember that when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled against marriage equality in 1971, not a single state in the union had civil rights protections for GLBT people, not one religion would marry same-sex couples, and gay people were actually still considered mentally ill by the American Psychological Association. We are light years from that terrible time and a challenge to this bad court decision is long overdue. Why would any gay rights organization, through media attacks, try to foul these citizens’ attempt to end discrimination after the battle has been engaged? Do they want this case to fail?
Yesterday, I was even more horrified to read quotes from Senator Dibble to the Associated Press regarding his opinions about the case. He believes that the only way marriage equality will advance is through the legislature. I spoke with Senator Dibble, asking him what he was going to do to advance marriage equality today. His response was “Probably not much.” I also asked him if he had read the case, complaint or summons. His answer was “No.” I find the fact that he chose to make public comments without even so much as looking at the case reckless and irresponsible. Senator Dibble has authored and co-authored bills to give some rights, but none have been enacted into law. He wants to see and incremental approach “with one or two a year”. Project 515 has listed the 515 laws that currently discriminate against our families. With his approach we would do one a year for 515 years? How long should I plan on living to see full equality?
I write these things not to bash these organizations, the senator or divide the community, but to inform our community and help these organizations and our elected officials understand that their approach is not helping our families or the case. If you want to see marriage equality in Minnesota we need to be united, even if we don’t agree on the path. We need to talk about how our families are affected by the discrimination we face daily. Then we need to come up with stratagies to defeat that discrimination. Trying to destroy each others work and efforts will only hinder us or even set us back. All of us should be supporting and pushing everyday for full equality and nothing less.
http://www.startribune.com/local/93410259.html
http://www.startribune.com/local/93887899.html
Right on, Matt King! You perfectly captured my feelings on the subject.
marriage is great specially if you have found a very special someone that is beautiful both on the inside and outside.~*.
[…] California, the couples are working without support from most of the state’s LGBT leaders, who largely support an attempt to repeal the offending law in the next session of the legislature. In a statement issued […]
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