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发帖数: 4174 | 1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110627/us-gay-marria
ST. PAUL, Minn. — With New York now gearing up for same-sex weddings, the
battle lines are forming for the next skirmishes over gay marriage – and
the most dramatic could come in Minnesota.
Gay-marriage supporters in the Land of 10,000 Lakes will be working
fervently to end a 31-state losing streak at the polls and defeat a proposed
amendment on the 2012 ballot that would limit marriage to one-man, one-
woman unions.
It's expected to be a closely fought campaign, attracting extensive out-of-
state resources.
"The other side is certainly desperate for a victory at the ballot box. We
expect to be outspent," said Jason Adkins, executive director of the
Minnesota Catholic Conference and a member of the coalition supporting the
amendment.
If the amendment passes, in a state viewed as politically moderate, foes of
gay marriage will be able to claim that the New York Legislature's vote
Friday to legalize same-sex marriage did not turn the tide nationally. Their
side will have extended a winning streak dating to 1998, with opponents of
same-sex marriage prevailing every time it has been put to a popular vote.
If the amendment is defeated, gay-marriage supporters will be able to make a
strong case that public opinion has turned in their favor.
"These ballot measures are so expensive and so divisive," said Monica Meyer,
executive director of OutFront Minnesota, the state's biggest gay rights
group. "If we can defeat this, it sends a strong message that at some point
soon these things just aren't going to be brought up at all any more."
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Thirty states have passed amendments banning gay marriage, while Maine
voters in 2009 overturned a bill passed by the Legislature that would have
legalized the practice. Where same-sex marriage is legal – in New York,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and the District of
Columbia – it came about through court orders or legislative action, not
by popular vote.
Chuck Darrell of the Minnesota Family Council, which supports the proposed
amendment, said the New York vote validated the concerns of Minnesota
legislators who put the ban on next year's ballot.
"Our Legislature wisely decided to let the people decide the issue of
marriage – not politicians," Darrell said.
Ann-Kaner Roth of Project 515, a Minnesota gay-rights group, said she and
her fellow activists would take lessons from what happened in New York.
"They were able to build such a broad-based coalition: Republicans,
independents and Democrats, the business community all coming out very
strongly in support of equality," Kaner-Roth said. "Minnesota is really ripe
for that kind of coalition-building."
The anti-amendment coalition is sure to include Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton,
who was unable to keep the measure off the ballot but has vowed to campaign
against it. He has already appeared at a fundraiser held by amendment
opponents and marched in the Twin Cities gay pride parade on Sunday – a
first for a Minnesota governor.
Gay-marriage advocate Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry,
anticipates an intense struggle in Minnesota.
"Any time minority rights are put up to a majority vote, in the white-hot
heat of nasty political exchanges, it's a dangerous situation," he said.
Another marriage battleground next year could be North Carolina. It is the
only Southeastern state that hasn't yet approved an amendment restricting
marriage to one man and one woman, but the GOP-controlled Legislature may
try to put such a provision on the 2012 ballot.
Republicans would need help from a few conservative Democrats to advance the
measure, and would also have to keep moderate Republicans in line.
Foes of gay marriage cite surveys indicating that more than 70 percent of
North Carolinians support the amendment. However, an Elon University poll in
February showed more than half of the state's residents favor some form of
legal recognition of same-sex couples.
"Numbers have borne out that attitudes on this issue are changing,
particularly among independents," said Alex Miller of the gay-rights group
Equality North Carolina.
In Maryland and Rhode Island, efforts to win legislative approval of same-
sex marriage failed earlier this year. The long-term prospects in Rhode
Island are unclear. But gay-rights activists in Maryland have vowed to try
again next year.
"People are energized by what happened in New York and eager to work with
our supporters in Maryland state government to make the same thing happen
here," said Patrick Wojahn, chairman of the Equality Maryland Foundation's
board of directors. His group issued a national fundraising appeal on Monday.
Republican state Delegate Don Dwyer, who coordinated opposition to the
measure in Maryland, said gay-rights activists underestimated the depth of
the public sentiment against same-sex marriage in the heavily Democratic
state.
"The entire country expected Maryland to roll over this past session and
pass the same-sex marriage bill, and that didn't happen," Dwyer said.
In Maine, when Democrats held power in 2009, the Legislature passed a bill
legalizing same-sex marriage, but it was overturned in a referendum that
fall, 53 percent to 47 percent. With Republicans now controlling the
Legislature, gay-marriage supporters are patiently exploring their options.
In one campaign, they are trying to have 40,000 one-on-one conversations
with voters in hopes of changing minds.
Three states – Delaware, Illinois and Hawaii – enacted civil union laws in
recent months that extend broad marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.
Brian Selander, a spokesman for Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, said he doubts
there will be any immediate push to go a step further and emulate New York.
"Considering that just two years ago it was still legal to be fired in
Delaware for being gay, the fact that civil unions passed this session here
is remarkable progress," Selander said. "We have not heard any plans to
introduce a marriage bill."
Of all the state-level developments, perhaps the most momentous could come
soon in a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on California's
Proposition 8, the measure approved by voters in 2008 that bans gay marriage
in the state.
If the appeals court holds Prop 8 to be unconstitutional, and the nation's
most populous state joins the list allowing same-sex marriages, pressure
could escalate for action by Congress or the Supreme Court. | g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 2 Posted on Advocate.com July 01, 2011 03:35:00 PM ET
Donor Disclosure Mandatory in Minn. Marriage Campaign
By Trudy Ring
Tom Prichard X390 (GRAB) | ADVOCATE.COM
Groups supporting a constitutional amendment to ban same sex-marriage in
Minnesota have to disclose the identities of major donors, and so do those
fighting the amendment, the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure
Board ruled Thursday.
The anti–marriage equality groups National Organization for Marriage and
Minnesota Family Council had sought to keep donors’ identities private,
claiming contributors would be subject to harassment and even violence, The
Minnesota Independent reports.
At a hearing before the board in mid June, Minnesota Family Council
president Tom Prichard (pictured) said disclosure “would have a significant
chilling effect on free speech. Even in Minnesota already it’s gotten
heated in some respects. The concern is harassment, property damage.”
On the other side, a coalition of groups including Common Cause, the League
of Women Voters, and the Brennan Center for Justice urged full disclosure.
“Much like the boy who cries ‘wolf,’ it has become routine for groups
like the National Organization for Marriage to complain that disclosure will
leave them vulnerable to threats and harassment,” the groups said in a
letter to the board. “The evidence shows otherwise. In reality, groups like
NOM are largely complaining about the ordinary rough and tumble of
political debate, particularly on an issue that touches people as personally
and deeply as same-sex marriage.”
The board agreed with the latter, voting 5-1 that any group that gives at
least $5,000 to a campaign involving a ballot measure must disclose the
identity of anyone who has given the group at least $1,000.
Supporters of marriage equality had not engaged in the fight over disclosure
. Donald McFarland, project manager for the pro-equality Minnesotans United
for All Families, said the group’s donors have not raised concerns about
going public.
“We're just glad that there’s clarity,” he told Minnesota Public Radio.
“We can now move forward, we know what the rules are, and we’re simply
prepared to go from there.”
The anti-equality groups declined to say whether they would bring a court
challenge to the board’s decision. The first campaign finance reports are
due in January, and the amendment will go before voters in November 2012. | e*******e
发帖数: 6165 | 3 这个有意思，釜底抽薪呀
这些反同的就喜欢偷偷摸摸，表面装个politically right的姿态 |
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