Minnesota Independent

Ralph Reed. Photo: Dave Davidson, www.TEApublican.com

Ralph Reed’s group to host anti–gay marriage amendment workshop in Minnesota

By Andy Birkey | 08.17.11 | 11:48 am

The Minnesota Faith and Freedom Coalition, part of a network of groups created by religious right icon Ralph Reed, is hosting a strategy session on the ballot measure to put a ban on marriage for same-sex couples in the Minnesota Constitution. Former gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer will emcee the October event, and Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, the lead sponsor of the amendment, will give the keynote speech.

Dibble: Senate IT department to delete 100,000 pro-gay marriage emails

By Andy Birkey | 05.23.11 | 12:20 pm

Sen. Scott Dibble told Minnesota Public Radio that 100,000 emails sent to legislators by gay marriage supporters were clogging the servers and that the Senate IT department was set to delete them Monday morning. The emails, sent through the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT rights group, chided Republicans and a handful of DFLers who voted Saturday night to put a constitutional ban on gay marriage on the ballot in 2012.

Poll: Majority of Minnesotans oppose anti-gay marriage amendment

By Andy Birkey | 05.13.11 | 11:23 am

The Star Tribune’s Minnesota Poll, released on Friday, shows that 55 percent of Minnesotans oppose inserting a ban on same-sex marriage in the Minnesota Constitution. Only 39 percent favor such a ban, it found. The poll stands in stark contrast to a survey conducted by anti-gay marriage pollster Lawrence Research and paid for by the National Organization for Marriage, two groups that oppose rights for same-sex couples. A bill to propose such an amendment passed the Minnesota Senate on Wednesday.

Sen. Dibble on gay marriage vote: ‘The GOP made a grave, grave mistake’

By Andy Birkey | 05.12.11 | 2:03 pm

Reaction to the passage of a Republican anti–gay marriage amendment in the Minnesota Senate on Wednesday was swift. “They have made a grave, grave mistake, and I think they will see that soon,” Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, the only member of the LGBT community in the Senate. The bill’s author, Maple Grove Republican Warren Limmer, dodged questions by Dibble and reporters about whether he thinks same-sex marriage is immoral and whether the measure was really about morality. Though he didn’t answer, Limmer has made his opposition to homosexuality very clear in his 20 years in office.

Minnesota Senate votes to put constitutional amendment on gay marriage before voters

By Andy Birkey | 05.11.11 | 3:38 pm

A proposal to place a question on the 2012 ballot that would alter the Minnesota Constitution to ban same-sex marriage passed the Senate on Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 38 to 27. The measure is waiting its final committee hearing in the House before that chamber votes on it. Virtually all of the testimony on the Senate floor was in opposition to the bill, which led one legislator to question whether supporters were ashamed to speak in support of it.

Marriage amendment headed to Senate floor

By Andy Birkey | 05.06.11 | 10:28 am

A bill that proposes a ban on gay marriage on the 2012 ballot passed the Senate Rules Committee on Friday morning and will now head to the Senate floor for a full vote. During brief testimony, DFLers on the committee raised concerns about rushing the passage of such a contentious measure this year and about its possible unintended consequences for same-sex couples.

Sen. Gazelka to Bradlee Dean: Gay marriage ban supporters aren’t bigots

By Andy Birkey | 05.03.11 | 11:38 am

Republican Sen. Paul Gazelka was a guest on Bradlee Dean’s Saturday evening radio program to talk about the amendment to put a ban on same-sex marriage into the Minnesota Constitution. Over the course of the program, which is part of Dean’s controversial ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, Gazelka spoke about activist judges and concerns that Republicans might be labeled “homophobes” or “bigots.” Dean and sidekick Jake McMillian said that homosexuals are criminals and America will be destroyed if homosexuality isn’t criminalized.

Senate passes voter ID bill

By Andy Birkey | 04.28.11 | 1:48 pm

The Minnesota Senate passed a sweeping voter identification bill Thursday that would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID card in order to vote in the state. Republicans said the measure is intended to prevent voter fraud, which they say has disenfranchised legitimate voters, while Democrats countered that it would be a travesty to democracy if even one voter was disenfranchised because they didn’t have an ID.

Opponents say GOP gay marriage amendment distracts from economy

By Andy Birkey | 04.27.11 | 8:23 am

Business leaders, Democrats and LGBT groups are unified in one aspect of their opposition to a Republican Senate bill that would but a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on the ballot in 2012: Gay marriage is a distraction from Minnesota’s economic needs.

Republican Sens. Dan Hall, Warren Limmer, David Hann and Paul Gazelka

Minnesota Republicans offer constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage

By Andy Birkey | 04.26.11 | 4:18 pm

Republicans in the Minnesota Senate introduced three bills on Tuesday that aim to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters in 2012. Minnesota law already outlaws same-sex marriage. State Democrats say the bill is a distraction from the economic crisis — and a state budget that the GOP has yet to pass.