same sex marriage

There appears to be a split among young people in the Republican Party over the issue of gay marriage. The two-term chairman of the Minnesota College Republicans announced today (Wednesday) his support over legalizing same sex marriage. Ryan Lyk says he wants people to know that not just Democrats support the issue.

A new poll finds Minnesota remains divided over legalizing same-sex marriage. The Star Tribune Minnesota Poll shows 53 percent of respondents say the state statute banning same-sex unions should stand.

Minnesota lawmakers have launched a push to allow gay marriage in the state beginning this summer. Sponsors of the gay marriage bill aim to repeal Minnesota's 1997 law that prohibited marriage between couples of the same sex.

The Minnesota state senator who will take the lead in that chamber on a bill to legalize gay marriage says backers will wait at least a month or two into the upcoming legislative session before they start to push it hard.

More than 500 people gathered in Minneapolis this weekend to discuss strategy for legalizing gay marriage in Minnesota. Organizer Michelle Dibblee of the Equality and Justice Summit discussed how a grass-roots campaign to pass such legislation would work.

For years, foes of same-sex marriage had a potent talking point: They'd won every time the issue went to a popular vote. That winning streak has now been shattered in a multi-state electoral sweep by gay marriage supporters.

After a long and expensive campaign about the definition of marriage, Minnesotans vote Tuesday on whether the state constitution should be amended to prohibit same-sex couples from legally marrying in the state. No matter how the vote turns out, it's not likely to end the debate in Minnesota over what kind of couples should have legal access to marriage rights.

The leaders of one of Minnesota's largest companies say they are opposing a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state. In a letter to employees and the public, Ken Charles, vice president of global diversity and inclusion, wrote the company doesn't believe the proposed ban is in the best interests of their employees or the state's economy.

Poll after poll shows public support for same-sex marriage steadily increasing, to the point where it's now a majority viewpoint. Yet in all 32 states where gay marriage has been on the ballot, voters have rejected it.

Supporters of same-sex marriage in Minnesota say they're undeterred by passage of a constitutional amendment in North Carolina that defines marriage solely as a union between a man and woman.