Minnesotans to vote on gay marriage

Minnesotans will vote next year on whether to make a ban on gay marriage part of their state's Constitution, a bill passed by the state House Saturday assures. Following 5 hours of debate that carried on into the night and was witnessed by hundreds of people on both sides of the issue, the Minnesota House voted 70-62 in favor of putting the measure up for a vote in November 2012, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Two Democrats voted for it and four Republicans cast votes against it. "Tonight is a really solemn occasion," the St. Paul Pioneer Press quoted Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-Minneapolis, as saying. "This is a big, big deal." The proposed constitutional amendment would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, who sponsored the bill, said it's an issue that deserves a statewide vote. "It is not about what I think. It is about what we think as Minnesotans," he said. Rep. John Ward, DFL-Brainerd, compared the issue to his being bullied as a child because of a birth defect. "I will never allow discrimination ... ever again, if I can help it," he said. Gay marriage is already illegal in Minnesota. A recent Star Tribune poll indicated a narrow majority of Minnesotans oppose the proposed amendment. The state Senate approved it two weeks ago by a 37-27 margin. Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, opposes it but won't have an opportunity to veto it, the Pioneer Press noted.