Minnesota

Minnesota is home to over 14,000 same-sex couples and has one of the highest concentrations of such couples and families, in the city of Minneapolis, throughout the entire country. Since 2004, the state legislature blocked multiple attempts to write discrimination into the state constitution. State advocacy groups and citizens across the state continue to work towards ending the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage.

Status: Anti-Marriage Law

Groups Actively Working on Marriage

OutFront Minnesota: the central statewide organization leading a multi-year campaign for marriage in Minnesota

 

Blog Posts Related to Minnesota

Minnesota Lawmakers Debate Freedom to Marry

On Monday, three pro-gay bills introduced last March were aired out in a Minnesota House committee. One measure, sponsored by Representative Joe Mullery, DFL- Minneapolis, would recognize gay and lesbian couples with civil unions. And Golden Valley Representative Ryan Winkler's bill seeks to recognize legal marriages performed outside the state. A third bill proposes legalizing the freedom to marry.

“Legislators have seen that there is strong support for extending legal recognition to same-sex couples and their families by ending discrimination in marriage,” Amy Johnson, executive director of gay rights group OutFront Minnesota, said in a statement. “Minnesotans know that marriage equality next door in Canada and now Iowa is not a threat to them or their families. A majority of Minnesotans (61%) support giving gay couples “the same legal and economic rights and responsibilities as married couples,” according to a 2009 state fair opinion poll.

Editorial: Economic Reasons for the Freedom to Marry

A committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives will hold a hearing Monday on three separate visions for extending greater rights to gay and lesbian couples. It marks the first time a legislative body in Minnesota has taken such an affirmative look; past discussion has sought only to constitutionally prohibit marriage equality.

Five states currently extend marriage rights to gays and lesbians, and they’re better off for it. Many Minnesotans, for example, are making the short journey south to wed in Iowa. A UCLA study last year estimated that Iowa’s state budget is getting a $5.4 million annual bump from marriage equality-derived tax receipts. This number doesn’t include the indirect boost to local businesses across the state.

‘Historic’ hearing on the Freedom to Marry in Minnesota

The House Civil Justice Committee will be the first in Minnesota’s history to conduct a hearing on the possibility of legalizing the freedom to marry in the state. Three bills will be up for discussion on Monday, and all three are supportive of expanded relationship rights for Minnesota’s same-sex couples.

The Marriage and Family Protection Act would make marriages in Minnesota gender neutral. A civil unions bill is also being proposed and another bill would honor marriages of same-sex couples performed in other states where it is legal, such as neighboring Iowa.

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Resources Related to Minnesota

Minnesota Census Snapshot

Demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in Minnesota.

Geographic Trends Among Same-Sex Couples in the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey

Groundbreaking research showing a huge increase in same-sex couples identifying themselves as "unmarried partners".

Unequal Under the Law: 515 Ways Minnesota Laws Discriminate Against Couples and Families

Project 515 presents the 515 different Minnesota laws which same-sex couples and their families are excluded from.

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