Minnesota Traditional Marriage Amendment - Ban on Gay Marriage Election 2012
Minnesota Traditional Marriage Amendment - Ban on Gay Marriage
Minnesota Same-Sex Marriage Constitutional Amendment 2012
A Minnesota Same-Sex Marriage Amendment will appear on the November 2012 ballot in Minnesota as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment. The measure proposes banning same-sex marriage. Unlike previous, unsuccessful attempts to place a marriage amendment on the ballot, the 2012 measure may leave open the possibility of same-sex civil unions.
A legislatively-referred constitutional amendment is a proposed constitutional amendment that appears on a state's ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters. It is a limited form of direct democracy as compared to the initiated constitutional amendment in which voters can initiate the amendment and approve it. With the legislatively-referred amendment amendments need to be initiated by the state's legislature.
Minnesota Traditional Marriage Constitutional Amendment Wording
The wording on the Minnesota ballet is:
"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?"
The debate over the definition of marriage has unfolded across America and at the federal level for the past several years, and is the subject of the proposed amendment on the November 2012 ballot to preserve marriage in Minnesota.
Minnesota marriage amendment text
The text of the above amendment is simple, and polls reflect a large voter turnout
for the Minnesota marriage amendment act.
But what is the debate really about, how does it affect society and what is at stake in the outcome of the amendment vote?
What is at stake in this debate are two competing definitions of marriage. One definition - advocated by gay "marriage" activists - would define marriage as the union of any two people regardless of gender, with the law treating the parties' genders as irrelevant to the meaning of marriage. The other definition, contained in the proposed constitutional amendment and reflective of the collective understanding of virtually every nation throughout recorded history,
is that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
The proposed measure is supported by MN Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, Rep. Sondra Erickson and Sen. Paul Gazelka.According to reports, in 2005 Erickson and Gazelka joined other legislators in drafting a marriage amendment. The measure was approved in the House but stalled in the Senate.
According to supporters, although same-sex marriage is already outlawed in the state, they hope to reinforce the law with the proposed measure. Pointing to the state of Iowa in which a similar ban was overturned by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2009, Sen. Paul Gazelka said, "I want to give the people of Minnesota the opportunity to protect the definition of marriage from activist judges."
Minnesota Marriage Amendment Arguments
The Minnesota Catholic Conference announced its support for the marriage amendment. A statement on the organization's website reads, "This is our time to stand up and defend marriage as a unique institution that, from the beginning of human history and in every culture, is the union of one man and one woman for the propagation of the human family and the upbringing of children." Archbishop John Nienstedt reiterated the group's support, stating, "...the media and some secular commentators have chosen to mischaracterize this measure as anti-gay, mean-spirited and prejudicial. This is not the case or the intent behind the initiative. The Minnesota Catholic Conference, made up of the seven Catholic bishops from the state, supports this amendment not for prejudicial or political reasons, but rather for reasons that are theological, biological and pastoral."
