Marriage Equality Act: MN State Senate

Dear Friends:

I was at the State Senate hearing today with my collar on to witness with our GLBT brothers and sisters. They need to see that there are clergy out there who are blinded by bigotry and intolerance. There is a lot of healing and reconciliation work ahead of us. I left a note for State Senator Moua to listen to her conscience and the hunger for justice that resides in her bones.

Please alert your friends and allies in MN to lobby for this bill to clear through the MN senate. Prop 8 in CA is not the last word. All people of faith and conscience must be heard this time.
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Marriage Equality Act
S.F. No. 120, as introduced - 86th Legislative Session (2009-2010)


1.1A bill for an act
1.2relating to marriage; providing for gender-neutral marriage laws; enacting
1.3the Marriage and Family Protection Act;amending Minnesota Statutes 2008,
1.4sections 363A.27; 517.01; 517.03, subdivision 1; 517.08, subdivision 1a; 517.09.
1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 Section 1. CITATION.
1.7This act shall be known as the "Marriage and Family Protection Act."

1.8 Sec. 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.
1.9(a) The legislature makes the findings and declarations in paragraphs (b) to (h).
1.10(b) Marriage is a legal institution recognized by the state to promote stable
1.11relationships and to protect people in those relationships and their children.
1.12(c) Minnesota's current marriage law discriminates against same-sex couples,
1.13denying them and their families rights and responsibilities, including the right to pension
1.14and Social Security survivor's benefits, the right to family and medical leave, and
1.15numerous other benefits and obligations.
1.16(d) The state has an interest in encouraging stable relationships regardless of the
1.17gender or sexual orientation of the partners and the entire community benefits when
1.18couples undertake the mutual obligations of marriage.
1.19(e) Despite long-standing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
1.20transgender Minnesotans, many have formed lasting, committed, and caring relationships
1.21with persons of the same sex. These couples share lives together, participate in their
1.22communities together, and many raise children and care for dependent family members
2.1together. Permitting same-sex couples to marry would further Minnesota's interest in
2.2promoting family relationships and protecting family members during life crises.
2.3(f) Fundamental fairness requires that same-sex couples be permitted to marry on
2.4the same terms as heterosexual couples.
2.5(g) Minnesota's exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage serves no legitimate
2.6government purpose and is contrary to the public interest. The discrimination and harm
2.7caused by the prohibition of same-sex marriage cannot be remedied except by permitting
2.8those couples to marry.
2.9(h) The state should not interfere with the religious beliefs of its people. Just as a
2.10church or religious denomination that objects to same-sex marriage has the right to refuse
2.11to solemnize those marriages, a church or religious denomination that believes in the value
2.12of same-sex marriage should have the right to solemnize those marriages.

2.13 Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 363A.27, is amended to read:
2.14363A.27 CONSTRUCTION OF LAW.
2.15Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to:
2.16(1) mean the state of Minnesota condones homosexuality or bisexuality or any
2.17equivalent lifestyle;
2.18(2) authorize or permit the promotion of homosexuality or bisexuality in education
2.19institutions or require the teaching in education institutions of homosexuality or
2.20bisexuality as an acceptable lifestyle; or
2.21(3) authorize or permit the use of numerical goals or quotas, or other types
2.22of affirmative action programs, with respect to homosexuality or bisexuality in the
2.23administration or enforcement of the provisions of this chapter; or.
2.24(4) authorize the recognition of or the right of marriage between persons of the
2.25same sex.

2.26 Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 517.01, is amended to read:
2.27517.01 MARRIAGE A CIVIL CONTRACT.
2.28Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between
2.29a man and a woman two persons, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law
2.30of contracting, is essential. Lawful marriage may be contracted only between persons
2.31of the opposite sex and only when a license has been obtained as provided by law and
2.32when the marriage is contracted in the presence of two witnesses and solemnized by one
2.33authorized, or whom one or both of the parties in good faith believe to be authorized, so to
2.34do. Marriages subsequent to April 26, 1941, not so contracted shall be null and void.

3.1 Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 517.03, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
3.2 Subdivision 1. General. (a) The following marriages are prohibited:
3.3(1) a marriage entered into before the dissolution of an earlier marriage of one of
3.4the parties becomes final, as provided in section 518.145 or by the law of the jurisdiction
3.5where the dissolution was granted;
3.6(2) a marriage between an ancestor and a descendant, or between a brother and a
3.7sister, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by adoption; and
3.8(3) a marriage between an uncle and a niece, between an aunt and a nephew, or
3.9between first cousins, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood, except as
3.10to marriages permitted by the established customs of aboriginal cultures; and.
3.11(4) a marriage between persons of the same sex.
3.12(b) A marriage entered into by persons of the same sex, either under common law or
3.13statute, that is recognized by another state or foreign jurisdiction is void in this state and
3.14contractual rights granted by virtue of the marriage or its termination are unenforceable in
3.15this state.

3.16 Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 517.08, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
3.17 Subd. 1a. Form. Application for a marriage license shall be made upon a form
3.18provided for the purpose and shall contain the following information:
3.19(1) the full names of the parties and the sex of each party;
3.20(2) their post office addresses and county and state of residence;
3.21(3) their full ages;
3.22(4) if either party has previously been married, the party's married name, and the
3.23date, place and court in which the marriage was dissolved or annulled or the date and
3.24place of death of the former spouse;
3.25(5) if either party is a minor, the name and address of the minor's parents or guardian;
3.26(6) whether the parties are related to each other, and, if so, their relationship;
3.27(7) the name and date of birth of any child of which both parties are parents, born
3.28before the making of the application, unless their parental rights and the parent and child
3.29relationship with respect to the child have been terminated;
3.30(8) address of the bride and groom parties after the marriage to which the court
3.31administrator shall send a certified copy of the marriage certificate;
3.32(9) the full names the parties will have after marriage and the parties' Social Security
3.33numbers. The Social Security numbers must be collected for the application but must not
3.34appear on the marriage license;
4.1(10) if one or both of the parties to the marriage license has a felony conviction
4.2under Minnesota law or the law of another state or federal jurisdiction, the parties shall
4.3provide to the county proof of service upon the prosecuting authority and, if applicable,
4.4the attorney general, as required by section 259.13 ; and
4.5(11) notice that a party who has a felony conviction under Minnesota law or the law
4.6of another state or federal jurisdiction may not use a different surname after marriage
4.7except as authorized by section 259.13 , and that doing so is a gross misdemeanor.

4.8 Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 517.09, is amended to read:
4.9517.09 SOLEMNIZATION.
4.10No particular form is required to solemnize a marriage, except: the parties shall
4.11declare in the presence of a person authorized to solemnize marriages and two attending
4.12witnesses that they take each other as husband and, wife, or spouse; or the marriage shall
4.13be solemnized in a manner provided by section 517.18 .

4.14 Sec. 8. REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.
4.15The revisor shall change any terms that specifically refer to husband or wife or male
4.16or female in the context of a marriage relationship to the gender-neutral term "spouse" or
4.17to include that term wherever those terms occur in Minnesota Statutes or Minnesota Rules.