Minnesota took a step toward joining Rhode Island and Delaware in legalizing marriage for same-sex couples when the Minnesota House passed a bill in favor of marriage equality today.
According to MSNBC, the bill passed the House 75-59 on a vote that was split upon party lines for the most part. The bill will be voted on by the Minnesota State Senate on Monday, or possibly as early as Saturday according to party spokesmen.
Thousands of supporters, many clad in orange shirts reading "I support the freedom to marry," lined up outside of the capital in St. Paul awaiting the decision on the bill. There were also opponents of the bills protesting with pink signs that read, "Vote No," according to USA Today.
The vote came one year after President Obama announced that he supported same-sex marriage.
"I've 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," Obama said.
Assuming the bill makes it out of the State Senate it will be signed by Democratic Governor Mark Dayton who has been outspoken in his efforts to rally Republican support for same-sex marriage within Minnesota, according to MSNBC.
If Minnesota legalizes same-sex marriage it will become the 12th state in the U.S. to do so and the first in the Midwest to do so by legislature. Iowa legalized same-sex marriage with a court ruling in 2009. Illinois leaders believe that they may soon have the votes necessary to legalize same-sex marriage as well, according to USA Today.
Before the bill was voted on today openly gay Rep. Karen Clark spoke to the chamber. Clark showed off a picture of her, her partner and her late parents taken at a Minneapolis gay pride parade, according to Metro Weekly.
"What I want you to do is read the sign they were carrying at that gay pride parade 20 years ago. They carried a sign that said, 'Our gay children should have the same rights as our heterosexual children," Clark said. "My family knew first hand that same-sex couples pay our taxes, we vote, we serve in the military, we take care of our kids, our elders, and we run businesses in Minnesota. We work hard and contribute to the same Minnesota system as everyone else."
