PFAW Members Join Thousands to Make Minnesota the 12th State with Marriage Equality

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 1:23pm — Scott

Photo credit: City of Minneapolis Facebook

Thousands of Minnesotans streamed into St. Paul Tuesday afternoon to witness history in the making.  Governor Mark Dayton welcomed an estimated crowd of 7,000 equality supporters to watch him sign marriage equality legislation into law, making Minnesota the twelfth state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.

People For members helped make this historic event happen.  In 2012 PFAW activists joined the fight to vote down an anti-gay ‘one-man, one-woman’ measure on the November ballot.  Following that first step, they continued working hard, joining PFAW ally organizations Minnesotans United and OutFront Minnesota in organizing their neighbors, making phone calls, sending emails, and writing letters to their newspapers, demanding full marriage equality for same-sex couples.

In late April, even a massive Midwestern blizzard didn’t stop hundreds from waving rainbow flags while rallying for same-sex marriage on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol before heading inside to lobby their legislators.  Last week the big moment finally arrived, as activists from across Minnesota trekked to St. Paul to witness the historic debate of HF 1054 in the MN House.  After a contentious three-hour debate, the bill passed easily on a vote of 75-59, evidence of the measure’s broad bi-partisan support.

On Monday the action moved to the Minnesota Senate chamber.  Once again, PFAW members in their bright red PFAW ‘Equality Now!’ t-shirts joined thousands of marriage equality supporters at noon in the capitol as the MN Senate took up the measure.  A massive crowd packing the rotunda and hallways chanted ‘Vote Yes!’ and sang protest songs, letting Senators know where they stood.  By a vote of 42-45, the Senate voted down a divisive amendment that would have allowed business owners to refuse goods and services to same-sex couples based on religious objections.  The hours-long but respectful debate on the intact same-sex marriage bill resulted in another bipartisan vote; the measure passing 37-30, sending the bill to Gov. Mark Dayton for his signature.

At 5:00 pm yesterday Gov. Dayton and supportive members of the Minnesota Legislature gathered in the 90-degree heat on the front steps to celebrate the historic bill signing.  A deafening roar rose from the crowd as Dayton signed the bill into law.  Following the ceremony, the thousands of equality revelers paraded to downtown St. Paul for a free party thrown by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. The celebration lasted late into the warm spring night. 

PFAW congratulates all Minnesotans and our People For members in celebrating the state’s newly-minted status as the twelfth marriage equality state!
 

 

 

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Rallying for Marriage Equality in Minnesota

Tue, 05/14/2013 - 4:11pm — Layne

Yesterday, as the Minnesota Senate voted 37-30 to allow same-sex marriages in the state, PFAW and friends expressed their support for marriage equality through signs, chants, and songs:

 

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Minnesota House Passes Marriage Equality Bill

Thu, 05/09/2013 - 4:42pm — Layne

This afternoon the Minnesota House passed a bill allowing same-sex couples in Minnesota to marry. It is expected to be taken up by the Senate on Monday, and Gov. Mark Dayton has pledged to sign the legislation if it reaches him.   If successful, Minnesota would be the twelfth state – and the third in one month – to pass marriage equality legislation.

“I personally want this to pass, but I also think it’s the right direction for Minnesota and where the future is headed,” said Minnesota House Speaker Paul Thissen on Tuesday, according to the Star Tribune.

Jake Loesch, communications director for Minnesotans United, shared a similar sentiment:

“Marriage is a simple freedom, it’s something that all Minnesotans deserve and it’s about the love, the commitment, the responsibility that two people share.”
 

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Delaware Set to Become Eleventh State With Marriage Equality

Tue, 05/07/2013 - 5:17pm — Layne

Following closely on the heels of Rhode Island, Delaware is poised to become the eleventh state to allow same-sex couples to marry.  Because the Delaware House passed a marriage equality bill last month and Governor Jack Markell has pledged to sign it, the only remaining step was passage in the state Senate – which happened this afternoon.

Recent polling data found that a clear majority of Delaware voters, like the majority of Americans in general, support marriage equality.  In April Gov. Markell told the Huffington Post:

“…when the advocates came to me earlier this year, and said we think it's time…I said, you know what, it is time, and I'm happy to stand right there with you.”

We agree: it is time for loving, committed couples to be treated equally under the law – in Delaware and throughout the country.

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Rhode Island Becomes Tenth State with Marriage Equality

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 6:40pm — Layne

Today the Rhode Island House passed and Governor Lincoln Chafee is expected to sign legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry, making it the tenth state in the country with full marriage equality.  The state House passed a similar version of the bill earlier this year but held another vote following minor changes to the Senate version.  Last week PFAW President Michael Keegan released a statement celebrating passage of the bill in the state Senate.

In The New York Times yesterday, Governor Lincoln Chafee called the nationwide push for marriage equality a “historic realignment”:

“A historic realignment is happening all around us, as Americans from all walks of life realize that this is the right thing to do. It is occurring both inside and outside of politics, through conversations at the office and over kitchen tables, and at different speeds in different parts of the country.”

Across dinner tables, in the pews, and in the halls of state legislatures, the momentum is indeed undeniable.  Today’s victory will not only give equal marriage rights to committed, loving couples in Rhode Island, it will also strengthen the nationwide momentum towards marriage equality. 
 

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Rallying for Marriage Equality – Day Two

Wed, 03/27/2013 - 5:45pm — Jen

Yesterday, PFAW staff and members rallied at the Supreme Court for marriage equality. Today we returned to the Court for Day Two with United For Marriage.

It was indeed a big day for the PFAW family, as one of our own, Minister Leslie Watson Malachi, delivered remarks. Her “Stay in Hope” speech offered a powerful vision of not only of hope but also of unity.

As an African American woman, on behalf of the Equal Justice Task Force of African American Ministers In Action, Hope says the enemy is a liar when they say African Americans and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are two separate - even hostile – communities, for “no weapon shall be forged against us” and no wedge can be driven between those who know oppression, discrimination, denial of basic civil and human rights. Hope connects the civil rights movement to the gay rights movement, the yesterday to today, the hopeful to the hopeless.

We all have different stories to tell, but the struggle for equality remains, and we should fight together – we are fighting together.

Minister Malachi was among a stellar roster of speakers today, including an appearance from Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA34), not clad in business attire as a member of Congress, but “suited up” in jeans as a father whose young daughter, Natalia, knew that she wanted to be there to witness history and asked him to join her.

In 1996, I voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Today, I stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to witness history, and I say this as a proud father, Latino, and Catholic... the time for equality is now.

Natalia is further testament to the fact that young people have paved the way for the American majority that now supports marriage equality.

What has stood out most for me from this experience is seeing the real people behind these cases. Yesterday, I waited at the Court until attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson walked down those famous steps with the Proposition 8 plaintiffs, Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier, and Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo. Today, I watched as Edie Windsor, at 83 years old, made that same walk, to loud cheers and applause and chants of “Edie! Edie!” In return, we all got a wave and a kiss blown our way.

To Edie and the others I say, Sophia Petrillo has your back.

We all have your back.

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Rallying for Marriage Equality – Now

Tue, 03/26/2013 - 3:42pm — Layne

“What do we want?  Equality!  When do we want it? Now!”

This morning PFAW staff and members joined a crowd of thousands gathered in front of the Supreme Court to chant, march, and speak out in support of marriage equality.  As Supreme Court Justices heard the first round of oral arguments on the marriage cases before them this term, multitudes of supporters gathered on the Court steps to share a simple message: our country is ready for marriage equality.

Today, the Court heard arguments on California’s anti-gay Proposition 8. Tomorrow, it will be considering the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the weeks leading up to today, we have been asking friends of PFAW to share why dumping DOMA is important to them.  As I stood out at the rally this morning, I thought about all of the people who had been brave enough to share their story with us – and what this day meant to each of them.

For Bishop Allyson Abrams, a member of PFAW’s African American Ministers in Action, it’s time to dump DOMA “because it hurts and humiliates those who know love and who practice showing it each and every day.”  For Sam Paltrow, member of affiliate PFAW Foundation’s Young People For Program, DOMA has to go because it “teaches that gay families do not matter,” and for Young People For member Erik Lampmann, it’s an “issue of economic justice.”  Missoula City Councilmember Cailtin Copple, member of affiliate PFAW Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network, “would like the chance to marry the person [she] loves someday.” 

While each person at the Supreme Court rally today – and those at the marriage rallies in all 50 states across the country – had a different reason for being there, we had a common goal:  Equality.  Now.

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Why It’s Time to Dump DOMA: Paul Gordon

Fri, 03/22/2013 - 12:20pm — Paul

This piece is the eighth in a series of guest blog posts on “Why It’s Time to Dump DOMA.” In the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court arguments on the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, we’re asking friends of PFAW to share why dumping DOMA matters to them. Be sure to check back soon for the latest post in the series.

At the end of 2008, my husband and I were married in the same synagogue where I’d had my bar-mitzvah more than three decades earlier.  As a 13 year-old in the 1970s, I read from the Torah and spoke to the congregation about letting the people we love know how much we love them. But as a closeted 13 year-old, I never dreamed that 30 years later, I’d be standing in the same chapel, with all the same people who are dearest to me, publicly professing my love for another man. Rick and I were surrounded by family and married in the traditions of our faith. And as we drank from the Kiddush cup, we adapted a practice from the Passover Seder; since Prop 8 had just passed, we removed eight drops of wine as a symbol that our joy was diminished by the suffering caused by marriage discrimination.

Passover is my favorite holiday because it is about living in a just society.  It teaches us to welcome the stranger, because “we were strangers in the land of Egypt.” It is a lesson that, unfortunately, must be learned and relearned, as every society has those whom it unjustly treats as outcasts.

It’s appropriate that the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in both the Prop 8 and Defense of Marriage Act cases during the week of Passover. Although the Constitution uses the language of “equal protection” instead “strangers in the land of Egypt,” the underlying values are the same. It is wrong – and unconstitutional – for states to prohibit us from marrying and for the federal government to refuse to recognize our marriages. What better time than Passover to dump DOMA and strike down Prop 8?

Paul Gordon, Senior Legislative Counsel
People For the American Way

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Jamie Raskin Discusses Key Court Cases With Progressive Leaders

Wed, 03/20/2013 - 3:00pm — Paul

Earlier this week, on a call hosted by People For the American Way, senior fellow Jamie Raskin discussed some of this term's most important Supreme Court cases in an exclusive conversation with members of our affiliate foundation's leadership networks: the African American Ministers Leadership Council, the Young Elected Officials Network, and Young People For. As the invitation stated:

In response to a national groundswell against racism, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act … Will the Supreme Court strike down the premier civil rights legislation of the twentieth century?

In response to a different type of groundswell, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act and California adopted Proposition 8. Will the Supreme Court protect the rights of gay and lesbian couples?

In response to a campus that didn't reflect diversity, the University of Texas adopted an affirmative action plan. Will the Supreme Court call that an unconstitutional act of racism?

Cases like these and so many others make it clear that the nation's courts matter. Struggles to adopt policies, for both good and evil, don't end when they're adopted by Congress, states, cities, universities, or businesses. The courts often get the last word.

And their decisions affect all of us profoundly.

Professor Raskin discussed these cases and answered questions from participants from around the country.

A recording of the call can be found here:

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Senator Portman’s change of heart and the legacy of Harvey Milk

Fri, 03/15/2013 - 12:56pm — Jen

Anyone who’s heard the story of San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk has likely heard his famous call:

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

That was one of the slogans used in the campaign against California’s Briggs Initiative in 1978. It was also the sign of something bigger for Milk, his staunch belief that sexual orientation was not a private matter, and that hearts and minds would only be changed if gays and lesbians came out to show their family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and the like that we’re all on the same team. That everyone has the same right to the proverbial life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Nearly thirty-five years after Milk was assassinated, that mantra has again proven true in the case of Will Portman and his father, US Senator Rob Portman of Ohio.

Why did Senator Portman’s change of heart take two years? Why has he continued to support the anti-gay policies of his party? There’s a lot of debate on both points, but one thing is certain: it was his son’s own coming out that forced the Senator to come out in support of marriage equality, and to do that interview and write that op-ed.

The Portman story breaks just eleven days before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the cases challenging California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Stuart Milk recently told the United for Marriage coalition that we must have a public showing at the Court of who this impacts. In so doing, he is upholding one of the fundamental principles on which his uncle’s legacy is based.

Thank you, Harvey.

PS – If you’d like to join PFAW at the Court, click here for more information.

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