General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy wife and I went to the Grand Old Days street festival in St. Paul
yesterday, as we do every year. Over 250,000 people show up for this Sunday event annually. This year, there were numerous small groups of people canvassing for petition signatures and commitments against the obscene marriage amendment in Minnesota that we'll be voting on in November. Along the three mile route down Grand Avenue, I met at least 12 groups of several people with the petitions, etc. The effort to get people to vote NO on this amendment is well-organized and very active. It's made up of both LGBT folks and allies, and it's very encouraging to see the extent of it.
My wife and I have donated to this effort, and I'm promoting the NO vote on the DFL precinct website I maintain. We were at Grand Old Days with my sister and brother-in-law, who were visiting from California for the weekend. My brother-in-law is a right winger, but listened to my pitch for this NO vote after meeting my sister's cousin and his partner of 27 years. The partner has a dental office right on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, and we watched the parade from there, not telling my brother-in-law about their relationship. He got involved in conversation with both men as the parade was going on and seemed to be enjoying it. A little later he asked if I thought they were gay. I laughed and told him about their long-term relationship and what great friends they were of ours, and that's what led to a good discussion of the whole marriage equality issue. I had deliberately not told him in advance, because I knew he'd get along famously with both of them.
Despite his right-wing point of view, he was impressed by both men and allowed as how maybe it might possibly be OK for same-sex couples to marry. You could see the gears in his somewhat pointy head processing all of this, and that has to be a good thing. That kind of reaction is why I believe that marriage equality is inevitable in this country. As more and more people who have opposed it discover that people they meet and enjoy talking to are LGBT, it becomes harder and harder for them to maintain a view against marriage equality.
Anyhow, I'm feeling better all the time about the chances of defeating this amendment in Minnesota.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)of this Grand Old Days event, don't miss it. It has everything, from great food to great music, and there's something for everyone, from small children to old geezers like me.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,699 posts)You handled your brother-in-law most adroitly!
And this is how we make the future happen, even sooner than we had thought it might.
Good for you!
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)discuss, because there's such a wide range of viewpoints. We all see each other rarely enough that disputes are unwelcome when we do. It's a family tradition. So, it takes a bit of maneuvering to discuss issues in a way that avoids dispute.
monmouth
(21,078 posts)Saturdays, on the radio at all, voiced any political opines? He is one of my favs..
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)It's not all that easy to get tickets to them, either. I had the pleasure of sitting in the front row when one of the shows was taped at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA several years ago. My wife and I got the tickets at a charity auction for the local crisis hotline, and they included attendance at a potluck lunch at a local church on the day of the taping. We went through the potluck line right behind Garrison Keillor, and I recommended the tuna noodle casserole I had brought to the potluck. He got some, and then very kindly mentioned it during his entertaining talk at the lunch.
Since we moved to St. Paul, though, we haven't gone to any of the shows. It seems as though visitors to town get most of the tickets.
monmouth
(21,078 posts)MineralMan
(146,329 posts)I'll bet you're still stain-resistant, too.
I live about a mile from the 3M headquarters campus, and drive by it often.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)Patsy Sherman, who worked for 3M here in Minnesota. It was a lab accident, when she spilled a chemical she was working on. It spilled on her canvas shoes. Didn't change their appearance, but couldn't be removed and protected them from water and other stains. After additional research, it became Scotchgard in 1956. I love the internet!
http://www.women-inventors.com/Patsy-Sherman.asp
rbixby
(1,140 posts)I have so much hope for the people here in Minnesota (Michele Bachmann land excluded). I have a really good feeling about this thing failing in November, and I think that all the more reason is the big kerfuffle about the 'pride' shirts at target. I guess we on the left made kind of a big deal out of the Target CEO supporting Emmer, so its fine for them to do it, but I just find the way they're doing it to be like the last gasps of a dying movement.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)all I can in my own precinct to get out the NO vote on it.
rbixby
(1,140 posts)MineralMan
(146,329 posts)That's where all my efforts are going, both for Democratic candidates and for ballot measures. If everyone pitches in and gets more people to the polls who agree with progressive goals, that amendment will go down in defeat. I hope that's how it turns out in the end. The other side will be working hard to GOTV, too. May we win!