Comments

  2. gussnarp says

    If this goes all the way we’ll be up to twelve states, right? Thirteen countries? I’m certain DOMA cannot stand, the Court does not operate in a vacuum. They must invalidate DOMA, right? Perhaps they’ll even issue a broad ruling on Prop 8 and we can call it 50 states and 14 countries by the end of the Court term.

  3. Alverant says

    Poor Michelle Bachmann, first she’s getting sued for libelling the MRFF and now this. Let me find my microscopic violin to play for her. :)

  8. markr1957 says

    …and another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust… (sung in a very bad Freddie Mercury impression)

  11. Loqi says

    So does god destroy us now, or does he wait until Dayton signs marriage equality into law?

  13. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Free drinks at the Pharyngula Saloon and Spanking Parlor, Patricia, Princess of Pullets, Proprietor.

  17. duce7999 says

    This is so great! Good job, Northerners!

    Earlier today this topic suddenly made me ponder, how long until Christians claim is was all their idea all along? How long until they claim this as their idea from jump?

  18. Eristae says

    So here comes the real question: when will God smite some poverty strike, third-world country that has no control over anything Minnesota does for this affront to Biblical law?

  19. says

    nice; from defeating a anti-gay constitutional amendment to this, in less than a year.

    hope it succeeds all the way :-)

  20. René says

    Linky says “House passes same-sex marriage 75-59” My bold and my bad. What is it?

    Congrats Minnesota!

    PZ, what was your congressman voting? (And, BTW, you’re the only TtB blogger — as far as I can tell — who shows leftist tendencies by left align the date over its background pic.)

  22. says

    To my relief, my congressman, McNamar, voted for the bill. Full rollcall here.

    And whaddayamean, leftist “tendencies”? If I were in Europe, I’d be a solidly centrist leftist; here in the US, that makes me practically a flaming Commie.

  23. says

    I love this!!! YAY.

    I texted my sister who lives in Delaware the other day: “Yay! Delaware = SUPERGAY!”

    I forgot she recently got “ordained” (online) so she could be the officiant at the marriage of a gay couple who are dear friends.

    She texted back: “Yeah! And I can marry them!”

    I replied: “Apparently, in Delaware you can now marry anyone you want! But, um, marrying a gay d00d might not be the wisest choice…?”

    She was like, wut?

    NEVER MIND.

  24. Rob says

    Congratulations Minnesota.

    Not hard to be seen as leftist, given that US politics is slightly to the right of Attila the Hun.

  26. René says

    makes me practically a flaming Commie.

    My kinda commie.
    Are you going to centre or center the date displayed in the header?

  27. imthegenieicandoanything says

    Yes!

    Still, if this were only the most mundane of changes, if we all said “Why, yes. How stupid the old laws were!” and got on with our day, what a better world it would be.

  29. pocketman says

    Today, Minnesota. Tomorrow, uh.. just Minnesota (and the places that have allowed it before). I’m sure the “world” part will come soon*, though.

    *Within 500 years

  30. jaybee says

    My first thought: good for Minnesota! (and not just its gay population)

    My second thought: I’d love to see the steam coming from Michelle Bachmann’s ears.

    My third thought: I wonder what Mr. Bachmann thinks about this deep down inside?

  31. says

    I see the meme about Marcus Bachmann’s somewhat effeminate mannerisms continue, so let’s just put it out there:

    There is nothing wrong in being an effeminate, straight man, and just noting a man’s individual mannerisms shouldn’t have any bearing on perceptions of their sexual identity. (This meme isn’t merely about having a gaydar reading, sadly) There’s nothing wrong with a whole lot of attributes which have been culturally encoded as feminine and therefore unmanly; what is wrong is the cultural enforcement of fixed gender roles. If there’s any shaming to be done, let it be done for the Bachmanns’ harmful beliefs rather than snide aspersions about inferred sexual hypocrisy.

  33. What a Maroon, el papa ateo says

    Well, we’re one step closer to where we should’ve been all along.

    So yeah, one cheer for MN, but can the rest of the world please stop dragging its ass?

  34. says

    *looks at the Red River*

    how odd that a placid, slow-flowing river can increasingly look like a gaping chasm. A deep rift, if you will. *sigh*

  35. jaybee says

    Xanthë, I assume you were responding to my comment #30.

    “There is nothing wrong in being an effeminate, straight man, ”
    I absolutely agree there is nothing wrong with being an effeminate man, gay or straight.

    “… and just noting a man’s individual mannerisms shouldn’t have any bearing on perceptions of their sexual identity.”

    Huh? It certainly isn’t a 100% foolproof predictor of gender preference, but it isn’t a coin toss either. Every person, straight or gay, who has been in a social setting while looking for someone to connect with does operate on a superficial analysis of the other party’s behavior because that is the only information available.

    I didn’t name just any effeminate man, I picked one who is married to someone who is trying to limit LGBT rights in Minnesota, and one who has apparently practiced gay conversion therapy. If he is in fact a closeted gay man, I am genuinely sad for him that he has had to lead his life this way, trying to make the best out of the limited possibilities he thought were available to him, but at the same time, helping to deny other people their rights in order to advance your own comfort should cause unrest.

    “If there’s any shaming to be done, let it be done for the Bachmanns’ harmful beliefs rather than snide aspersions about inferred sexual hypocrisy.”

    Are equally upset with Bill Clinton’s infidelities as you are, say, Newt Gingrich’s? Does the fact that the latter condemned Bill Clinton while carrying on his own affair on the way to his third wife have no bearing?

  36. moarscienceplz says

    Opponents said the measure is too divisive and could ultimately harm children.

    QFT! Having two daddies could mess up a poor innocent child no end. Not like say, giving a .22 rifle to a five-year-old.
    Ah, Republican “logic”.

  37. Brother Yam says

    One of my co-workers grumbled about someone shoving something down someone else’s something. I just told him that his side shouldn’t have started this fight. If they had only shut up, this wouldn’t be happening.

    And then I giggled maniacally…

    Yay for the the North Star State!

  38. Rey Fox says

    Yes. Good to see it somewhere other than the east coast. Now Illinois just has to get in gear.

    Unfortunately, we may be soon hitting the ceiling as far as states that don’t have a gay marriage ban in their constitutions from that amendment spree in the mid-aughts.

  40. says

    aaaand of course I suspect it will take the Supreme Court ruling firmly in favor of marriage equality across all 50 states before AL, FL, MS, GA, etc (aka the Southern States aka the Bible Belt/Zipper) come around.

  44. thumper1990 says

    Wahoo!

    Ba-ba-dum-dum-dum Another one bites the dust! Ba-ba-dum-dum-dum Another one bites the dust-ah! Aaaand another one gone an’ another one gone, another one bites the dust! Hey! I’m gonna get you too, another one bites the dust! WHOAohOhohOhoh!

    …etc.

    /jubilation.

  45. says

    @theophontes to many citizens of America, “Basic Human Rights” means rich white christian men shouldn’t have to pay taxes.

  46. Yellow Thursday says

    Here is the full text of the bill passed by the house, as amended.

    I’m overjoyed that this bill is likely to pass. But I’m disappointed that the addition of language to placate religious legislators was necessary. The bill changed Minnesota “marriages” to “civil marriages,” as if marriages recognized by the state weren’t already “civil marriages.” It seems even more unnecessary to add language stating that religious organizations don’t have to perform marriages that go against their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

    A hopeful addition near the end, though: the bill authorizes Minnesota courts to process divorce proceedings for same-sex couples married in Minnesota, if they reside in a state that refuses to process same-sex divorces. That’s promising.

  47. says

    Isn’t it interesting that so many non-gay people are happy about the passing of a bill which really doesn’t effect them? This is because we are social creatures and we get happiness from the happiness of others! This is a good thing! Congratulations, Minnesota!

  48. jblilie says

    I should pass the (Democrat-controlled) Senate Monday and Gov. Dayton has stated he will sign it. I’m proud of my state.

    We defeated the attempted constitutional amendment last fall (yay!) and now better progress.

    Some gay friends groused in the fall that we just voted to “not be asssholes” and I agreed; but I also told them: Call your state reps. now. Tell them to make that bill to legalize.

    As I said last fall: in 2012 we saw the tide turn on this issue:
    1. After a string of 20+ straight defeats, referenda passed (or like ours were defeated) on the right side of the issue (marriage equality) in 4 states. Including Maine, where it had been voted down just a few years ago.
    2. A sitting US president edorsed marriage equality.
    3. All polls showed that the ballance had tipped in the US in favor of marriage equality (last summer). (Hence Obama’s endorsement – he’s a pretty finely tuned politician.)

    I also think that the SCOTUS will rule correctly (for marriage equality) on the cases before it now. (Though they may chicken out on the Prop 8 ruling in CA and just let the lower court ruling (striking down Prop 8) stand without hearing it or making it a national ruling.)

    We are witnessing (big) history. Enjoy it.

  49. areyouashoggoth says

    LOOONG time Minnesota lurker delurking to say how proud I am of my state!