Gay Marriage's Moment Arrives, With Help From Obama
Your Ward Room Blogger spent the weekend in Minneapolis. While jogging along the Mississippi River, I started seeing runners wearing orange t-shirts with the message VOTE NO. So I asked one what they were planning to vote against.
Theres a constitutional amendment on the ballot to define marriage as between one man and one woman, she said. Its going to be really close. Right now, the polls are 50-50. But if it fails, well be the first state to vote for marriage equality.
Nearly 6,000 runners were warming up for The Big Gay Race, a 5K raising money to fight the amendment. Before the start, Sen. Amy Klobuchar -- the Minnesota senator who wasnt on Saturday Night Live -- made a speech in favor of marriage equality.
Gay marriage has appeared on the ballot in 32 states, and every time, voters have rejected the right of same-sex couples to wed. In May, North Carolinas Amendment One, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, passed 61 percent to 39 percent. But that may have been the high water mark of the anti-gay marriage movement. After the North Carolina vote, President Obama endorsed gay marriage, saying, Ive just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Gay-Marriages-Moment-Arrives-With-Help-From-Obama-172109771.html#ixzz284tR2liu