The public debate over which way to vote on an amendment that would add a ban on same-sex marriage to the Minnesota Constitution is roaring across Minnesota. Here’s a sampling of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

The Ugly
Self-described “ex-gay” Kevin Petersen of Minneapolis took to the pages of the Winona Daily News to call out former Catholic priests who have spoken out against the anti-gay marriage amendment.

As an ex-gay Catholic who left the “gay lifestyle” with the help of Father John Harvey’s Catholic group COURAGE, I will be happy to have such a dialogue with any of these former priests. Let’s have the dialogue you say will be denied.

When I was gay I also believed that my dignity relied on whether or not I could enter into a “marriage” with another guy. But the Church taught me that marriage has never been an individual right that served to legitimize the private emotions of private citizens.

What Petersen doesn’t mention is that he’s the founder — along with State Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen — of the Pro-Marriage Amendment Forum.

B. Gehring, a physical therapist from Plymouth, penned an article for Minnesota Public Radio’s Public Insight Network arguing against gay marriage — because it would be like a man entering a women’s restroom.

We have to remember that what we are voting on is a definition of marriage that is objective. No one person is entitled to everything. A person may not have the absolute right to marry if the definition of marriage does not fit his or her situation, just as, for example, a man does not have a right to enter a woman’s restroom even if he feels more comfortable to do so, because the woman’s bathroom is defined and understood as for woman only, ultimately for the stability of society.

Brent E. Frazier of Pelican Rapids wants voters to “Please follow word of God on marriage” in his letter to the editor to the Fergus Falls Journal.

The Word of God of God can never have words subtracted from it, added to it or taken out of context and still remain completely true.

Many lay people, teachers, preachers and theologians who support the idea of same-sex marriage will never be able to use Bible verses for their thinking or reasoning as there is no support for them to be found in Scripture.

God, who is the creator of the human race, is also the creator of the institution of marriage as a covenant between Him, man and woman.

The Bad

Windom resident Mike Bogle took issue with President Obama’s “evolution” on same-sex marriage — he now supports it. Bogle, in a letter to the Worthington Daily Globe doesn’t get why gays want marriage.

I also thought evolution was supposed to make people smarter. Allowing gays to marry only exposes them to the same nightmares heterosexuals experience — divorce lawyers, alimony and fighting over assets.

If homosexuals were smart, they would be running with terror from legalizing their relationships. Unfortunately, most of them are just as dumb as the rest of us.

In the Chanhassen Villager, Sen. Juliane Ortman, Rep. Ernie Leidiger, and Rep. Joe Hoppe explained why they voted for the anti-gay marriage amendment last year.

Ortman: I voted to send the marriage amendment to the voters of Minnesota. I believe that this is a fundamentally important question on which Minnesotans should be allowed to vote.

Leidiger: I voted for the marriage and voter ID amendments. It’s pretty clear from what is happening around the country that America and Minnesota want the definition of marriage to remain as between a man and a woman. 30 states have voted that way. I think Minnesota will follow.

Hoppe: Last year I voted for the marriage amendment. I have always thought that marriage should be between one man and one woman.

The Good

Mike Christopherson, managing editor of the Crookston Times, gives readers some snark in the paper’s editorial against the anti-gay marriage amendment. It’s well worth the read:

This is a poker game. Minnesota for Marriage thinks we need to raise the stakes, to up the ante, when it comes to protecting society and future generations from the horrors of what they call “genderless” marriage. Nothing less than going all-in will do, they say.

Don’t fall for it. Play your equality, anti-discrimination card. Call their bluff and vote no.

The arts community in Minnesota is coming out against the amendment.
Sheila Smith, Board Member for Minnesotans United and Executive Director of the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, released a statement about her organization’s support.

“Minnesota’s creative community thrives because of the contributions of creative people from all walks of life,” said Smith. “This amendment would limit our state’s ability to recruit the best and the brightest to be a part of our state’s future. We believe in treating others as you would like to be treated. That’s the kind of place we believe Minnesota is, and that’s the kind of place we want it to be in the future.”

And another law firm has joined the fight to vote “no.”

“The law firm of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, strongly and unequivocally opposes the proposed amendment, and encourages all Minnesotans to unite in opposition,” the firm said in the release.

Former Medtronic CEO and Harvard business school instructor Bill George penned a column in the Star Tribune about how the anti-gay marriage amendment is bad business:

Defeating this amendment is essential not only to provide civil rights, but also to ensure that Minnesota is open and welcoming to everyone — regardless of religion, gender, race, national origin or sexual orientation. Would Medtronic’s new CEO, who is a Muslim born in Bangladesh, have left General Electric had he not believed that Minnesota was open to people with diverse life experiences?

To sustain their growth, local companies like Target, General Mills, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, Best Buy and Cargill must attract creative professionals from around the world. In his 2003 book, “Rise of the Creative Class,” Richard Florida found that tolerance — openness to diversity regardless of race, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation — is one of two key factors in recruiting creative people. He ranked Minneapolis No. 29 on diversity, well below competing cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, New York and Boston.