Sunday Morning Update: The Minnesota House passed the bill by a vote of 70 to 62.
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: “Amid the din of chants against the measure [and for, I have to add], booming through the marble halls outside the chamber, the House of Representatives took up the proposal, and after five hours of speeches, nearly all from opponents, voted 70-62 to place a question on the ballot in the 2012 general election asking whether the constitution should be changed to say that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
“While Gov. Mark Dayton opposes the measure, he has no power to veto such a plan; it will be on the ballot.”
Cate and I went to a tea party this morning for her last Little Flowers meeting of the year. On the way home, I checked my email (naturally) (though I wasn’t at a stoplight) and saw that our parish was encouraging everyone to head to the state capitol ASAP.
They may vote on the gay marriage ban amendment today and the stakes are high. Dozens of protesters on both sides.
Plus two more.
It was loud.
Really loud.
And all kinds of chaotic.
They were shouting “Just vote no!” and we were shouting “Let us vote!” Most of the people seemed to be on “their” side, and I wished that we had gotten a sign.
Or made one.
Or something.
As it was, Cate got to see democracy in action and came to understand a little bit more that…though her mom can be quite goofy at times…
…there are things that really matter.
(She insisted on taking a “normal” picture of me after seeing the face I’d made for this one.)
(“Normal”, for me, being a relative term.)
They may well be voting today so, Minnesotans, pray!
Wish we could be there. We have so many projects going right now…however, this is so important. The other side is a little loud.
Praying for us Minnesotans.
Good for you! (except checking email while driving). We live 3 hours from our state capital but only 10 minutes from Trenton, NJ. We are there alot. (I grew up in NJ and all my kids were born there)
BTW: loved your interview in Faith & Family..it was like seeing a good friend by surprise!
note- my "word verification" is:
tradis…a sign pehaps that Traditional marriage will be upheld?
No no, Elizabeth! In my defense, I checked it in the driveway before leaving the tea party. 🙂
Now that was a homeschooling lesson/field trip!! Good for you and your daughter to stand up for marriage!
Oh no! We will pray!!
Elizabeth Esther captured my thoughts on the subject:
http://www.elizabethesther.com/2010/08/why-i-regret-voting-yes-on-prop-8.html
I respectfully disagree, Gloria. 🙂
Oh goodness. We've been away from media today. Thanks for the heads up. Will pray.
Thank you for making the effort to go Margaret and Cate and for being our voice!
ps..'tis the season for Little Flowers end of the year. We have our Little Flowers Luncheon next week!
What a great way to introduce Cate to the legislative process. 🙂 I work for my state government and I love when kids come to see what we do! Kudos to you guys for going! So often we only see the "other" side. Great to see you guys were there too, with other like-minded individuals.
The pictures are GREAT. Love of the one of Cate running up the Capitol steps.
I hadn't heard that was going on in Minnesota's state capital. It's an issue all over the US. Prayers being sent your way!
I live in MA, where gay marriage is legal. My little sister got married right after it became legal (to a man!) and the legal paperwork did not say bride/groom or husband/wife. It now says "Party A and Party B" So sad. What's next? That's what scares me….
As a member of the "other" side, I respectfully disagree. I must admit that it does hurt to have people actively protesting *against* my rights, but, hey, as long as we're showing the democratic process, right?
That wasn't supposed to be snide-sounding, if it was. I really do believe in *both* sides of an argument having the right to express their opinions freely. I might not like your opinion, you might not like mine, but both opinions are equally valid, much to (likely) both our consternation.
Boy, you must think of us as some kind of heathen freaks, right? Unfortunately, we were born that way. Sorry.
I enjoy reading your blog, and I wish we could be friends. Perhaps exchange parenting tips. But I highly doubt you want to hear opinions on parenting from my wife or I. Or our two daughters. Which is sad.
I know when to leave gracefully, and I have doubts that you will actually unscreen this comment for others to see (let's just say, I've seen other people do this – I mean, do you want people to know that gay people are reading your blog?), but on the off-chance you do, if you could all just refrain from throwing Leviticus at me, that'd be swell. I know it's tempting, but it also says you should never cut your hair, so…um, grain of salt.
Respectfully,
Rin
(I'm from Canada, by the way, not Minnesota, so while I'm on the "other" side, I'm not actually in Minnesota protesting.)
(I'm wondering, though, are you against gay people in general? Or just their getting married? The second I could understand, if not agree with. The first, well…)
Rin, I think we need to agree to disagree in this case. 🙂
(And no, I am not "against" gay people in general–or any person. It is on the acting out on one's homosexual inclinations that I am against.)
(as per the teachings of my faith)