Never forget

As the clock struck Midnight on August 1, same-sex couples were legally allowed to be married in the state of Minnesota.

The issue of gay marriage in my home state has been one that has been bandied about since the early 2000s. I recall when then Gov. Tim Pawlenty implored the DFL-controlled Senate (the GOP held the House then, so they were ready to take on the issue) to pass a bill defining marriage as between one woman and one man, which he in turn would sign into law. Back then, Minnesota was pretty much a reflection of the rest of the country in that the citizens opposed gay marriage by a  near 2 to 1 margin. However, DFLers would not acquiesce to Pawlenty's plea nearly ten years ago, so the issue was moved off into the background.

Over the next 5+ years, the gay marriage issue has evolved to the point where the country is close to a 50-50 split. That doesn't happen by accident. It takes tremendous commitment to a cause in order to move the needle that far in a short amount of time. So exactly how did it happen? What I've seen is sheer demagoguery on the issue. Many "marriage equality" advocates used borderline Alinsky-esque tactics against opponents of gay marriage, with accusations of homophobia and bigotry not being all that uncommon. There were also the obligatory chanting points like "love is love" or "Why does it matter who loves whom?"

So when same-sex marriages commenced here in the state of Minnesota, a popular sentiment of "Love wins!" was often conveyed, even though the MN Marriage Amendment looking to define marriage as between one man and one woman (and voted down in November 2012) was never about banning "love." So in the state of Minnesota, the same-sex marriage advocates won this fight. But with any battle, there are inevitably some casualties. So as same-sex marriages become the norm in this state, we must never forget the millions of straw men whose lives were sacrificed in the name of "marriage equality."

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