Justin's Political Corner
Minnesota-based Religious Right activist/rock star Bradlee Dean went ballistic on his radio show yesterday in response to his state’s new marriage equality law. Dean warned that Gov. Mark Dayton, who signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, is at “war with God” and is “about to find out what it’s like as to what the fallout is when you throw rocks towards God, he’s going to learn how gravity works.” He added that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who backed his state’s marriage equality law, and other pro-gay rights “criminals” will face divine justice as well.
Dean even seems to believe that every gay person in the country showed up for yesterday’s celebration of the marriage equality law in order to “push their propaganda and their agendas on the American people,” just as Saul Alinsky commanded.
“They come from all over the country to do this so what you’ve seen was probably the whole lump of the population of the homosexual community in the United States of America,” Dean said.
After lamenting about the “pansies” in the Minnesota legislature, Dean and his co-hosts began discussing the “Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act,” an LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying bill, which he said is proof that “radical homosexuals” are part of a “UN global agenda” to “destroy the family.”
Dean then channeled his inner-Antoine Dodson and claimed that gays are coming after your wife and kids: “Go home, look at your wife and look at your kids, because now that’s what they’re coming for.”
He even lashed out at “my good friend Alex Jones,” who is apparently not anti-gay enough for Dean, despite his belief that chemicals in juices are turning kids gay.
Dean concluded the show by warning that gay rights advocates are creating a “totalitarian system” by pushing the anti-bullying legislation, fearing that “pharmaceutical giants” might diagnose anti-gay activists as mentally ill.
“The conservatives on the airwaves in Minneapolis are sitting there playing games with the homosexuals because they think it’s a puppy to be played with when in fact it’s a stinking water rat filled with rabies,” he concluded.
h/t: Right Wing Watch
BREAKING: The Minnesota State Senate passes #HF1054 37-30, making it the 12th state to legalize marriage equality. #MN4M #MNUnited
— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) May 13, 2013
BREAKING: The Minnesota House has passed marriage equality 75-59. Off to the Senate it goes. #MN4M #MNUnited #MarriageEquality #LGBTQ
— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) May 9, 2013
A year ago, when Vice President Joe Biden revealed in a television interview that he supported same-sex marriage, such unions were legal in six states.
Tuesday, the Legislature in Biden’s home state, Delaware, voted to become the 11th such state, part of a rapid shift on the issue that is making same-sex marriage the norm in liberal parts of the country. The Delaware Senate approved the marriage bill, 12-9, sending it to Gov. Jack Markell, who has championed the measure.
Delaware’s action, combined with Rhode Island’s passage of a similar law last week, means that same-sex marriage is now legal in most of the Northeast, from Maine through Maryland, with the notable exceptions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie, the state’s Republican chief executive, has blocked a marriage bill passed by the Legislature.
The legislative battles on the issue are now moving to the Midwest, where the Minnesota House is expected to vote on a marriage bill this week. The outcome there hinges on a few legislators, mostly members of the state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party representing rural parts of the state, who have not yet revealed their positions. Opponents have publicly said, however, they are losing ground.
Gay rights supporters are “hopeful” about the Minnesota outcome, said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, one of the chief advocacy groups on the issue.
The year’s biggest prize for supporters of same-sex marriage would be Illinois, where a legalization bill has passed the state Senate, but faces a more difficult fight in the House.
Supporters say they are closing in on the votes they need, but with the legislature’s spring session entering its final weeks, they have not yet brought the measure to the House floor. Gov. Pat Quinn has promised to sign the bill if it passes both houses.
The Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this year in a case challenging California’s Proposition 8, which barred same-sex marriages in the state. The justices could use that case to require all states to allow same-sex marriages, but when the case was argued, their comments indicated that they are unlikely to do so. A ruling on that case likely will come in June.
H/T: Los Angeles Times
BREAKING: Delaware is the 11th state to legalize marriage equality.#DE4M #MarriageEquality #LGBTQ #SSM
— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) May 7, 2013
Minnesota and Illinois will fight it out for the right to be the 12th and 13th states to legalize marriage equality. #MN4M #IL4M #LGBTQ
— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) May 7, 2013
Gay rights advocates in Minnesota believe they’ve locked up enough votes in the state legislature to legalize same sex marriage ahead of a scheduled House vote Thursday.
“Thursday’s vote in the Minnesota House of Representatives will be a historic victory for thousands of same-sex couples and families in our state,” Richard Calborn, campaign manager for Minnesotans United For All Families, said in a statement Tuesday. “We are confident that the necessary votes to extend the freedom to marry for same-sex couples have been secured and that HF1054 will pass the House floor.”
Minnesota would be the 11th (or 12th) state in the nation to legalize gay marriage should the bill pass the Democratic-controlled House and Senate. Senate leaders say they have the votes needed to pass a bill, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL) has already said he would sign it if it reaches his desk.
The bill’s passage would represent a decisive swing towards equality for a state that just last year hosted a hard-fought campaign over a referendum that would have amended the state’s constitution to ban same sex marriage.
h/t: TPM
Conservative radio host: Families of Newtown shooting victims can ‘go to hell’ (via Raw Story )
Minnesota radio host Bob Davis last week said last Friday he would like to personally tell the families in Newtown, Connecticut whose children were murdered to “go to hell.” On his show Davis & Emmer, which is broadcast by Twin Cities News Talk AM 1130, he attacked the families of those killed…
Just now, the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-3 to advance a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. It now proceeds to the Senate floor, but it’s unclear how much support is waiting there for it. The House Civil Law Committee also already heard testimony today and will continue its hearing and discussion later this evening.
H/T: Think Progress LGBT
“Marriage is not a partisan issue, and NOM does not hesitate to oppose weak Republicans and support strong Democrats,” said Brian Brown, NOM president.
In what could be just enough of an opening for equality advocates to seize, a poll released Thursday showed Minnesota voters narrowly supporting same-sex marriage.
According to the latest survey from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, 47 percent of Minnesota voters favor making same-sex marriage legal compared with 45 percent who are opposed. In response to a separate question, 43 percent said they support legally permitting marriage for same-sex couples while 32 percent said they should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry. Only 23 percent said same-sex couples should receive no legal recognition.
Combined with other factors, polling numbers like that could provide fertile ground for advocates to pursue a measure that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. In November, a slim majority of Minnesota voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
H/T: TPM LiveWire
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak announced Thursday that he’s calling it quits after three terms and 12 years in office, throwing the 2013 mayor’s race open to at least four credible contenders who have expressed interest in the job.
Rybak revealed his intentions at a press conference at Midtown Global Market on Lake Street, one of the symbols of his efforts to revitalize the city.
In a statement posted on his blog, Rybak hailed the creation of jobs, safer streets and neighborhood revitalization, but also said ” doing this job in the way I’ve chosen to do it involves some personal sacrifices, and right now, I owe it to those around me, and to myself, to get a bit more balance in my life. I also think that after 12 years, the city will benefit from a fresh perspective.”
“The greatest professional job I could have is to serve my hometown,” Rybak said at Thursday’s announcement. “It’s tough for me to walk away.”
Since he first won election in 2001, Rybak has raised the profile of the office and become one of the state’s most recognizable political figures. He became an avid cheerleader for local causes, an agile politician who steers the City Council his way and a force in national Democratic politics. Once a critic of subsidies for sports teams, Rybak engineered a razor thin 7-6 vote on the City Council earlier this year to use city tax money to build a new football stadium for the Vikings and renovate Target Center, home of the NBA’s Timberwolves.
In the past, Rybak put his reputation on the line to promote quality-of-life projects that sometimes became lightning rods for his critics, such as bike lanes and artist-designed water fountains. The city he inherited lacked the deep pockets of the past, so he has often played the role of enthusiastic idea man behind outside ventures: bike sharing, the City of Lakes Loppet, a cooperative workspace in an abandoned grain trading floor.
Rybak ran on a base of neighborhood activism to oust predecessor Sharon Sayles Belton in 2001, riding a wave of public discontent with large public subsidies for development projects. He won handily a hard-fought reelection bid in 2005 against Peter McLaughlin, and coasted to an easy win against 10 lightly funded contenders in 2009, amassing almost three-quarters of votes cast.
He’s been a peripatetic figure around the city, from crowd-surfing at clubs to more somber appearances at funerals for slain youths.
Rybak strove to close the gap between the North Side and the rest of the city, but the twin devastation of a wave of foreclosures and the 2011 tornado undermined those efforts. Yet his strong emphasis on job training helped to close the city’s job gap with the rest of the metro area, a rarity among American cities.
h/t: StarTribune
(via Buzzfeed: The Seven States (Or More) That Could See Marriage Equality In 2013)
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is taking up two cases related to the marriage rights of gay and lesbian couples, three states’ voters approved marriage equality at the polls in November and conservative former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said this past week he can accept the “reality” of marriage between same-sex couples as a “legal document issued by the state.”
Here’s a look at the seven states — or, depending on the Supreme Court, more — where advocates hope to see marriage equality in the first six months of 2013.
1. Illinois
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn supports marriage equality, and advocates are looking to push a bill in the first month of 2013. “Public sentiment is moving fast on this,” state Sen. Heather Steans told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s just a wave now. It’s moving very quickly.”
Anticipating the fight, the “Coalition to Protect Children and Marriage” was unveiledby opponents of the bill Dec. 18, and it includes the Illinois Family Institute, Eagle Forum of Illinois, Abstinence and Marriage Partnership, Illinois Citizens for Life PAC, Lake County Right to Life, Concerned Christian Americans and Family-Pac.
The state already has civil unions, and two ongoing lawsuits, brought by Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union, challenge whether the differential treatment is constitutional under the Illinois Constitution.
2. Minnesota
Coming off the defeat of a marriage amendment in November, several prominent state officials have declared their support for moving forward with marriage equality in the state.
Richard Carlbom, who served as the campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families that worked against the amendment, told the Star Tribune this past week, “Our intention is to make sure gay and lesbian couples have the freedom to marry after the 2013 legislative session.”
Sen. John Marty and Rep. Alice Hausman, according to the Pioneer Press ”already have said they intend to introduce immediately a bill to legalize gay marriage when the Legislature convenes Jan. 8.” Additionally, Gov. Mark Dayton supports marriage equality.
3. Rhode Island
The state, which has civil unions currently, is the last remaining state in New England without marriage equality. This past week, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed committed to allowing a vote on the issue in the next year.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee is a supporter of marriage equality, and earlier this year took executive action to recognize same-sex couples’ marriages performed out of the state
4. Delaware
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, coming off the 2011 passage of civil unions in his state has made clear that he wants Delaware on board the marriage equality list — tellingThe Huffington Post as early as August that the issue “probably” would come up in 2013 — and it’s expected to happen.
5. Hawaii
Although Hawaii has been in the marriage equality fight since the early 1990s, the state’s advocates are still pushing for marriage equality there.
This August, a court decided that the state’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages is constitutional. The court found that changes to the law should be made by lawmakers or voters, not the courts.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie is a staunch marriage equality supporter, having refused to defend the state’s current law in the court challenge. “My obligation as Governor is to support equality under law. This is inequality, and I will not defend it,” he said at the time.
6. New Jersey
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been in the spotlight recently, having won moderate and Democratic support for his handling of Harricane Sandy, but the Republican governor vetoed the legislature-passed marriage equality bill at the start of 2012. ”I do not believe you put civil rights on the ballot, period,” he said. “It is the job of elected officials to ensure that everyone is provided equal protection and equal rights under the law. We should not hide from that responsibility. We should embrace it.”
7. California
Sandy Stier, left, and Kris Perry are the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging California’s Proposition 8 that will be heard by the Supreme Court this spring. Gov. Jerry Brown, both now and previously as attorney general, has refused to defend the constitutionality of the law.
A narrow victory — either dismissing the appeal because there is no appropriate party appealing the decision or a decision by the court maintaining that California’s marriage ban is unconstitutional because the vote took away a pre-existing right of same-sex couples to marry — would mean Stier and Perry could marry but the ruling wouldn’t change marriage laws outside California.
A broad decision guaranteeing same-sex couples the right to marry, however, also is possible. Depending on the reasoning, that could change the marriage equality map across the country in a far more dramatic way — up to and including marriage equality for same-sex couples across the country.
“To me, I think the time has come,” said Marty, who has sponsored same-sex marriage bills in the past.
Hausman and Marty argue passage of same-sex marriage legislation needn’t be time consuming nor distract from the mission of setting the state budget.
Marty speaks of a two-hour debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee and an up or down vote.
Hausman is a bit more cautious, saying the number of committees a same-sex marriage bill might need to clear in the House depends on its legal implications and the desire of House leadership.
But she also looks to passing a bill before the final state budget numbers come out in the forecast.
Democrats control the legislature.
Dayton has long indicated his support for same-sex marriage, ceremonially vetoing the proposed marriage amendment when passed by the Republican-controlled legislature last session.
If lawmakers take their cue from voters in their districts, passage of the same-sex marriage legislation will be bipartisan, Hausman argues.
That’s because the amendment failed in about 20 districts that elected Republican House members, she said.
“It’s bipartisan,” she said of the perceived support.
Marty and Hausman stress passage of same-sex marriage legislation — Marty speaks of gender-neutral marriage law — would not require churches to marry same-sex couples.
“No church will be forced to marry (same-sex couples) if they don’t want to,” Marty said.
But because the Catholic Church, for instance, might debate same-sex marriage for decades, that shouldn’t prevent the state from taking action now, Marty said.
But Marty’s and Hausman’s views do not perfectly fit those expressed by DFL legislative leaders.
Senate Majority Leader-designate Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, anticipates that same-sex marriage legislation will be introduced.
About 1.4 million Minnesotans voted “Yes” on the marriage amendment defining marriage as between man and woman, with about 1.5 million voting “No.”
About 40,000 voters left the amendment ballot question blank, an omission or decision that automatically translated into a “No” vote.
h/t: erstarnews.com
Republicans are seeking to oust Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is up for his first reelection after his narrow 2008 win.
Franken will be a tough candidate — he’s worked hard to ingratiate himself in the state, and his poll numbers look fairly solid. But Republicans hope with the right candidate they can topple the first-term senator.Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and John Kline (R-Minn.) are two early mentions for the race.
Paulsen had $725,000 in the bank for a possible run as of mid-October, while Franken had $1.1 million. Kline, who faced his first competitive reelection campaign in years, had just $114,000 as of mid-October, and may have spent some of that in the final weeks of the campaign.
[..]
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) is up for reelection the same year, giving up-and-coming Minnesota Republicans two possibilities for a statewide run.
[…]
Franken could prove to be tough to beat, however. The former Saturday Night Live star has assiduously worked to establish himself as a workhorse rather than a show horse in the Senate since his narrow recount victory over Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).
heehan said that while Franken has improved his image in the state since his first campaign and incumbents are tougher to beat, Franken benefitted from a Democratic wave election, helped by high turnout driven by President Obama’s first campaign and antipathy in the state towards President George W. Bush.
Republicans are considering revisions to their nomination process, changing the tradition of the state party choosing its nominees at a convention to having an open primary.
Coleman and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) have also been mentioned as possible candidates, though a few state Republicans speculated that if Coleman does decide to make another run for office he might be more likely to run for governor, the office he first ran for in 1998.
Multiple Republicans warned that a Bachmann campaign could be disastrous for them, since she’s popular with the base but not well liked statewide. The former presidential candidate and Tea Party favorite barely won reelection this year in the state’s most Republican district, and an October poll from the Democratic Public Policy Polling showed her favorability rating statewide at just 33 percent, with 55 holding unfavorable views of her.
Two other Republican who are widely mentioned as a possible candidates are Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek (R) and former state Rep. Laura Brod (R), who’s on the University of Minnesota’s board of regents. Republican National Committeeman Jeff Johnson is also expected to make a statewide bid, though most think he’ll run for governor and not for Senate.
(via silas216)
With Tuesday’s sweeping pro-LGBT victories in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington state, marriage equality will be the law of the land in eight or nine states and the District of Columbia. Another five states have civil unions laws. The National Organization for Marriage, along with other anti-equality organizations, have lost their principal talking point and can no longer claim that every time voters considered marriage, equality loses — so it seems likely the number of states recognizing same-sex couples will continue to climb in the upcoming year.
Here are some states that could consider the issue in the near future:
1. Colorado: While a 2006 constitutional amendment prevents the state legislature from enacting marriage equality, a civil unions bill was only defeated this year thanks to stunning maneuvers by Colorado Speaker of the House Frank McNulty (R) to thwart the majority in his chamber. McNulty lost his majority Tuesday and his likely successor as Speaker, openly gay Rep. Mark Ferrandino (D), is the bill’s chief backer. Polling shows 70 percent of Coloradans support legal recognition for same-sex couples, so movement on this appears likely in 2013.
2. Minnesota: Not only did Minnesota voters defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions Tuesday, they also flipped control of both the state House of Representatives and Senate. The Republican majorities who pushed the marriage inequality amendment onto the ballots will be replaced by a new Democratic majority in each chamber. With Gov. Mark Dayton (D) a strong supporter of marriage equality and a clear popular mandate for marriage equality evident from the amendment vote, Minnesota could also potentially move on this in 2013.
3. Rhode Island: With Tuesday’s victory in Maine, Rhode Island is now the only state in New England without marriage equality. With polling showing more than 56 percent of voters in the Ocean State favoring full marriage equality — instead of the state’s existing weak civil unions law — openly gay state Speaker of the House Gordon Fox (D) has promised to bring up a marriage equality bill next year. Tuesday’s Rhode Island legislative races saw “significant and undeniable gains,” for the pro-marriage-equality side, according to supporters.
4. Illinois: Since Gov. Patrick Quinn (D) backs marriage equality and popular support is surging for moving from civil unions for full marriage, state legislators are pondering a bill for 2013.
5. Delaware: Gov. Jack Markell (D) was re-elected with nearly 70 percent of the vote on Tuesday. He has called the transition from civil unions to marriage equality “inevitable” and expects the legislature to take it up in 2013.
6. Ohio: With poll numbers showing growing support, citizens in Ohio are working to repeal the state’s 2004 marriage inequality amendment and are trying to place an amendment on the ballot in 2013 to replace it with pro-equality language.
7. New Jersey: Though Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed a bill to move from civil unions to full marriage equality last February, the state continues to support the idea. Christie has proposed putting the measure up for a vote, though the success of the initiative may depend on the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial and legislature election results.
With the Supreme Court set to consider whether to take up the Proposition 8 case in California later this month, the citizens of the nation’s most populous state could also once see marriage equality in the near future. The high court is also expected to decide on a challenge to the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, which could create new protections for all same-sex couples across the country.
