Minnesota will become the 12th state in the country, plus DC, to allow same-sex couples to marry, following a 37-30 vote of the state’s Senate on Monday.
Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign the bill at 5 p.m. Central Time Tuesday. The bill, passed by the House last week, will take effect Aug. 1 — the same day Rhode Island’s marriage equality law takes effect.
The state’s sole out gay senator, Sen. Scott Dibble, spoke in support of the bill he had backed.
Of the legislature’s prior decision to push forward the vote on a constitutional amendment banning gay couples from marriage, “I felt excluded,” he says of that decision. He added, though, “In an odd way, I’m kind of grateful, because we had an amazing conversations, Minnesotans,” that he said led to Monday’s vote for marriage equality.
“Today, we have the power, the awesome, humbling power, to make dreams come true, he said. “We will be removing barriers to the full joy life has to offer.” Of himself and his husband, Richard, whom he married in California in 2008, he says, “I’ve met the person I can’t live without.”
See the rest of the article and more pictures at Buzzfeed and just to get a glimpse of what Minnesota said "no" to, remember this testimony below?
It's hard to believe once upon a time in certain places, testimony like the above would have doomed marriage equality.