Gov. Dayton signing the bill Tuesday afternoon legalizing same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

At precisely 5 p.m., Gov. Mark Dayton stepped from a podium set up on the front steps of the Capitol to a small wooden desk, sat down and made Minnesota the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

“What a difference a year and an election make in Minnesota!” said Dayton, a vocal supporter of the push to allow gays and lesbians to marry. “Last year, there were concerns that marriage equality would be banned forever. Now, my signature will make it legal in two and one-half months.”

As he signed multiple copies of the bill the state Senate approved Monday, a crowd of thousands enveloped the Capitol with roars and cheers for the third time in less than a week.

The bill’s chief authors, Minneapolis DFLers Rep. Karen Clark and Sen. Scott Dibble, followed the governor with remarks, but for many in the crowd — especially those there accompanied by someone they had the right to marry for the first time in their lives — history had already been rewritten.  

Despite blistering heat, the crowd blanketed the lawn and covered the broad expanse of stairs leading into the Capitol, where some of the senators who orchestrated Monday’s vote were still hard at work bringing the session to a close.

Flanked by dozens of state officials, LGBT activists, faith community leaders and other supporters, Dayton asked the crowd to thank the lawmakers for taking a risk.

“Thank you! Thank you!” the throng chanted in unison. And later, in what became the unofficial rallying cry of the week, “We’ve got your back, we’ve got your back.”

Even as the governor and lawmakers wrapped up their remarks, people continued to flow into the Capitol area waving American flags and rainbow banners.

Forty-five minutes after he picked up a pen, the governor sent the crowd on its way to a party planned for downtown St. Paul. “Go have fun,” he said. “Love is the law!”

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15 Comments

  1. A Great Day

    For Minnesota. No more legal discrimination. Good for our business climate, good for business (am guessing those previously mentioned florists are happy for he new business), good for our children and bad for no one. And those apocalyptic claims of the end of society? Am guessing thy will disappear along with other claims historically used to oppress. History is full of said claims, no one remembers those who made them. They do remember the brave people who fought hatred and discrimination, however.

  2. The Right Side of History!

    Congrats to Minnesota for becoming the first Midwestern state to get themselves onto the right side of history!!! If two guys or two girls want to go down to the courthouse, get a marriage license (for those of you following at home, that is the legal, non religious document we all have to get before we get married), and have a justice of the peace legally marry them, they should be allowed that right.

    http://fgnaround.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/hurrah-minnesota/

    1. Iowa was first

      Actually, Iowa has given this right to same-sex couples, so Minnesota is not the first in the Midwest.

      1. The electorate v.s. the courts

        Iowa’s judges did it for them via court order. The way Ryan worded his comment was that Minnesota is ” the first Midwestern state to get themselves onto the right side of history”.

        “To get themselves”. Judges didn’t do do it for us. We did it ourselves (via our elected representatives).

  3. Do We Trust God?

    For all of those of us who trust that God has created our GLBT brothers and sisters the way God intended them to be, this is a no brainer. Indeed, their joy at the legalization of same-gender marriage is OUR joy!

    But there are those who, like the “prodigal son’s” brother, refuse to share in the joy of those who are being welcomed home into society.

    For those who have been raised to believe that God is so sick and twisted as to create an entire group of people who, if they lived the way God create them to live, God would HATE them,…

    some of whom have invested continuous time and energy into NOT being the people God created them to be, lest they be hated by God,…

    or who are (at least unconsciously) aware of family members and friends who have done so, this feels as if it’s shaking the foundations of their lives.

    Some of those folks, of course, know themselves to be GLBT in their hearts and souls, but have chosen to live as if they are “straight.” For them, there’s nothing about the legalization of same-gender marriage that precludes them from continuing to do so.

    Such folks are struggling. For this reason, I feel called to pray for them and their leaders – that God would reassure them that the power of their faith is to be found in being useful to God by embodying the attitudes, the perspectives and the work of Jesus in their lives,…

    in faithfully sensing and responding to God’s call to do compassionate works of love and mercy, as God inspires them to notice the need for such works among their family members, friends, co-workers, and communities,…

    and that their need to force the rest of the world to live the ways they, themselves, were taught they MUST live, does not arise from God, but from the insecurities of the people who,…

    rather than teaching them to sense and respond directly to God, after the example of Jesus,…

    taught them that their religious institutions and those who led those institutions were an appropriate substitute for God in a very human effort to maintain control over and assure the continuing adherence of their members to that faith alone,…

    (as if God prefers people who are faithful to a particular faith expression or clergy person over people who are directly faithful to God).

    I believe the Minnesota legislature has been faithful to God in legalizing gay marriage. Sadly, some of our religious institutions and those who lead them continue to hide from God, using tradition and ancient texts as a shield.

    Hopefully, in time, ALL of our religious leaders will develop the ability to point beyond themselves to God and lead their “flock” to seek God’s presence and guidance, each for their individual lives, in the same way those leaders do each day.

  4. Why is marriage limited to one person?

    I look forward to the day when Minnesota legislators will allow a bi-sexual to marry both a man and a woman. Why should a person be limited to one marriage partner? Who is hurt if a bi-sexual person is allowed to marry two people?

    The fact that gay marriage proponents have not promoted the idea that someone can marry more than one person is extremely disappointing. I trust they will join us in supporting the concept that there should be no limit on the number of people someone can marry.

    2. Here is an idea for you

      If you are so disturbed about this change, work on changing the divorce laws.

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