(Photo: Stacy Bengs / AP)

BY ADAM L BRINKLOW
dot429

Minneapolis’ Mayor R.T. Rybak took a trip to Chicago to steal all their gays. Rybak’s office has cooked up a new ad campaign, “I Want to Marry You in Minneapolis,” encouraging Illinois residents to make the short trip across the state border to get hitched. This year, Minnesota became the thirteenth US state to legalize same-sex marriage, and Mayor Rybak presided over the wedding of Minneapolis police chief Janeé Harteau just a few weeks ago. Rather than call a press conference in his own town, Rybak bounced over to Chicago to unveil the campaign in Rahm Emanuel’s own backyard.

“Chicago is my kind of town, but it’s a second city in human rights,” Rybak told reporters. “I hope the day comes [when] all Illinoisans can marry—but until that day comes, I’m here to steal your business.” Ouch. A March study by UCLA’s Williams Institute estimated that Illinois’ economy could pick up an extra $100 million (which would yield about $8.5 million in tax revenues for the cash-strapped state) if same-sex marriage became the law of the land.

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The post Minneapolis to Chicago: We’re here for your queers first appeared on Lesbian.com.

As Minnesota prepared for gay marriages to become begin today the state’s businesses are really taking the cake when it comes to welcoming the soon-to-be newlyweds.

Not only will there be multiple marriages, including one at the Chapel of Love in the Mall of America, but now Betty Crocker, the famous baking company owned by General Mills, which is based in Minnesota, has given wedding presents to some of the happy couples by providing them with cakes for their weddings.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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Usually the only time people line up to go to a mall at midnight is on Black Friday, but this upcoming Thursday is another type of holiday in the state of Minnesota: the first day same-sex marriages become legal in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

After passing the bill back in May, on Thursday Minnesota will officially become the 13th state to allow same-sex marriages, and there will be numerous midnight marriages and celebrations to mark the occasion in cities across the state, including the Mall of America.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

The post Lesbian couple to wed at Mall of America first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Churchgoers receiving (rainbow) communion (Photo: Courtney Perry)

BY PAUL BRANDEIS RAUSHENBUSH
Huffington Post Gay Voices

On May 14, Minnesota became the 12th state to sign gay marriage into law as Governor Mark Dayton signed its marriage equality bill and said “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should certainly include the right to marry the person you love.” Two days before, the Rev. Jay Bakker presided over the opening of Revolution Church in Minneapolis , which meets at Bryant Lake Bowl. Bakker had recently relocated with his wife to Minneapolis from New York City, where he started Revolution Church NYC, which continues to meet in a bar in Brooklyn.

To celebrate the first day of the church and in honor of the pending pro-LGBT legislation, a friend of Bakker’s, the theologian and Patheos blogger Tony Jones, along with his photographer wife Courtney Perry and daughter Lilly, baked a special rainbow-colored communion bread to be shared at the church service.

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The Minnesota Senate on Monday approved a bill that would allow same-sex marriage in the state. “I am proud to be a Minnesotan today,” gay state Sen. Scott Dibble (D-Minneapolis) said before lawmakers approved House File 1054. “Today we have the power — the awesome, humbling power — to make dreams come true.”

Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to sign the bill into law on the steps of the state Capitol in St. Paul at 5 p.m. (6 p.m. EST) local time

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source

The post Marriage equality approved in Minnesota first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Staff and volunteers for Minnesotans United for All Families celebrate after Minnesota voters reject a same-sex marriage ban in November 2012. (Photo: MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)

BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Washington Blade

The Minnesota House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples in the state. “I do believe we are on the verge of changing Minnesota’s history,” said state Rep. Karen Clark (D-Minneapolis) who introduced the bill.  Her long-time partner, Jacqueline Zita, was inside the chamber for the vote. “We are strengthening the meaning of marriage by opening it to couples who are committed.”

The Minnesota Senate is scheduled to vote on the same-sex marriage bill today. Governor Mark Dayton has said he will sign it into law if lawmakers approve it.

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source

The post Minnesota Senate to vote on marriage equality first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Minnesota’s Secretary of State has announced the title for the November ballot question that would codify the state’s same-sex marriage ban–and it may be an unexpected boon for those who oppose the amendment.

Says the press release:

St. Paul, Minn.—June 28, 2012—Secretary of State Mark Ritchie today announced that the approved title for the proposed marriage amendment that will appear on the ballot in the general election held on November 6, 2012, will be: “LIMITING THE STATUS OF MARRIAGE TO OPPOSITE SEX COUPLES.”

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The post Minnesota’s marriage amendment title announced first appeared on Lesbian.com.