The Winona Daily News editorial hasn't been sounding a clarion call for marriage equality, and given the paper's reputation for sassy editorials, had the paper decided to make the issue a priority over bread and butter fiscal issues, the board would have done so.
One thing the paper is never shy about is political virtue--or the lack of it--and so today Brian Voerding, writing for the board, praises Senator Branden Petersen in Supporting gay marriage a stand against hate:
Stand tall, Branden Petersen.
Stand tall against the hate and the anger. And when you feel weak, let the winds of change hold you up.
Petersen is a Republican state senator from Minnesota who announced recently that he would consider co-authoring a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
In other words, the man belongs to the party that just last year tried to write a human-rights violation into the state constitution by limiting marriage to between a man and woman.
Indeed, Petersen was one of the legislators who had voted to put the measure on the ballot, but who has now had a change of heart--or rather, a return to conservative values about individual freedom and the limited role of government.
So it’s no surprise that Peterson’s announcement immediately turned him into a token whipping boy for right-wing activists more interested in advancing senseless social agendas than in enacting real change. . . .
. . .We don’t have any idea whether the Legislature will take on gay marriage this session. We haven’t called for it, either, because we believe lawmakers need to first figure out how to solve the state’s structural deficit and make life better for every resident of this state, whether they’re gay, straight, black, white, poor, rich, or anything in between.
And we know the winds of change blow clearly in one direction. People, given enough time, will do the right thing. Minnesotans became the first voters in history to deny that constitutional amendment last year. It’s only a matter of time, of changing demographics and social values, before Minnesota joins the other states that have already approved gay marriage.
Read the entire editorial at the WDN, and share it with your social networks.
And then? There was a moment at the Minnesota state capitol press conference announcing the introduction of the bill for marriage equality that bounded out of argument and into adorable.
An Uptake video via Upworthy's These Gay Dads Wanted To Give A Speech On Marriage Equality, And What They Got Instead Was Hilarious:
Photo: Senator Branden Petersen and his children.
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