Minnesota's Senate Judiciary Committee has voted 8-4 along party lines to advance a bill that would place a voter initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the state on next year's ballot.
The Minnesota Independent reports:
Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights, said, “I will never in this Legislature, will never vote — even if it means I'm voted out — to put language of discrimination in the constitution.”
“I could not live with myself, and those of you who claim to be good Christians, you need to think about what you are doing here,” she added.
But Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, said the issue isn't about discrimination and civil rights: “Marriage isn't a right. Nowhere in the federal Constitution or the Minnesota Constitution is marriage considered a right.”
Sen. John Harrington, DFL-St. Paul, said the measure does nothing to support the principles the nation was founded on.
The bill now goes to the Senate Rules Committee.
Previously…
MN Measure to Ban Same-Sex Marriage Gets Hearing Today; Pared to Allow Civil Unions [tr]
MN GOP Introduces, Fast-tracks Ballot Initiative to Ban Same-Sex Marriage [tr]
