Today at work, I had a bevy of computer work to do. I was going to listen to an audio book I have loaded onto iTunes, but, instead, I decided to have on the Star Tribune’s live streaming of the state capitol events today.
Back on Thursday, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to allow same-sex marriage beginning August 1st. Today, the Senate was set to vote. In a way, this was the easy one. I wan’st sure if the bill would pass the House, but with a comfortable majority of Senators having already expressed support, today seemed mostly proceedural.
Still, it’s a big deal. Minnesota – which should have been among the first five states to legalize gay marriage, is now set to become #12. Not exactly trail-blazing, but still ahead of other progressive-minded states, like Nevada, Hawaii, Oregon, and Illinois. And still ahead of those fighting-to-stay-in-the-19th-century states that we oddly fought a war to keep…Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and that one with Stone Mountain.
It’s also a big leap forward from last year, when Minnesotans were presented with enshiring anti-gay marriage text into the State Constitution.
Anyway. Here are some stills I grabbed from the streaming. And, to the Star Tribune, thanks for the coverage. If you don’t like that I am posting these images, let me know, and I’ll take them down.
I was watching a live stream of the events at the State Capitol, and the camera zoomed in on this group. Notice the guy on the left: his sign is informing us that 1 woman plus 1 man equals one (levitating) infant. Presumably he’s there to show his support for banning the marriages of infertile people.
Here’s another image from events at the Capitol this morning. God’s plan is simple? Um…having read the “good book” a few times, I can tell you that’s false. His plan involved arranged marriage, rape, incest, polygamy and (for women), no chance of divorce. Abraham, Jacob, Samson, David, Solomon, and others didn’t think marriage = 1 man and woman, either. Maybe the sign refers to a different god.
They’re singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Seems like an appropriate song on, like, just about every level.