The Minnesota House has passed a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and as a result Minnesota voters will be asked to vote on the amendment in November 2012.
The final vote was 70-62, largely along the usual party lines.
Unsurprisingly and justifiably, one of our regular commenters is unhappy.
Minnesota used to be a very Democratic state. I had my issues with this state, but I was proud of us politically. That has slowly changed over the past decade or so. Ten years ago, I would have said with some measure of confidence that this shit-for-brains bill would not be approved by the majority of Minnesotans. Today? My totally uneducated odds are 50-50 that discrimination will become embedded into the MN constitution.
One thing I’ve learned from watching the whole Prop H8 drama play out in California: We cannot take for granted that the people of Minnesota will do the right thing. There will be millions of dollars pouring in from out of state to fund the haters. There will be dishonest ads meant to confuse and scare voters. Those of us who stand for equality must be prepared to combat this with a concise, coherent message. We need to work our asses off to ensure that LGBT civil rights are not trampled on.
Mind you, all this and all the anti-choice shit the Republicans are trying to pass despite the fact that they are whining about lack of jobs and the depressed economy. I don’t know how any of this cultural wars shit advances the economic well-being of Minnesota, but I’m not a Minnesota politician, so what do the fuck I know? If you ask me, this is an attempt to gin up the dander of the batshitcrazyrightwingers for the 2012 election. And you know what? It just might work. But you know who else it’s gonna piss off? LGBT folk and allies. There are lots of us. And, we don’t have time for civilized discourse bullshit, respectful conversation, or the vaunted Minnesota Nice. We’re queer, we’re here, and we’re mad as fucking hell. Yeah, that doesn’t rhyme–sue me.
This abomination may very well pass. Like I said, I don’t have as much faith in my fellow Minnesotans as I did ten years ago. But be warned, Mr. Gottwalt and supporters of discrimination and hate–marriage equality is coming. You may be able to stem the tide for a bit and throw up huge obstacles, but it’s coming.
And it’s carrying a rusty pitchfork.
Can you sharpen a rusty pitchfork and make sure it stays rusty?Post + Comments (96)