Letter: Future for equality in state looks bright

To the Editor:

Nov. 6 will go down in history as a watershed event in the nation's long struggle for marriage equality. The great state of Minnesota became the first in the country to reject an amendment to a state constitution to limit the freedom to marry. In recent years, 30 states have passed a similar discriminatory ballot initiative.

In addition to the historic vote in Minnesota, voters in Washington, Maine and Maryland approved same-gender marriage.

The Red Wing Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays extends a heartfelt thank you to all who voted “no” on the marriage amendment. It was gratifying to see that the amendment failed by nearly 1,000 votes in our city.

In addition, the future for marriage equality looks bright. According to tabulations gathered at 16 colleges by the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, a full 79 percent of those students voted “no” to defeat the amendment.

Red Wing PFLAG started its journey for fairness and equality 18 years ago. One of the reasons we have persevered has been the constant and expanding level of support the community generously demonstrated. We were overwhelmed at the participation in our Vote NO unit at the recent River City Days parade.

Throughout the years, the community has strongly supported PFLAG-sponsored, diversity-related entertainment at the Sheldon through many sold-out events. The Red Wing School District has maintained a strong commitment to nurturing respect for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.

Recently, community support included a unanimous vote by the City Council to establish a domestic partner registry and the strong stand by the Red Wing Human Rights Commission in opposition to the marriage amendment.

The bipartisan and courageous leadership of state Reps. Tim Kelly and John Kriesel was invaluable to the Vote No campaign. They represent the brightest and best in politics today and certainly earned our respect.

We look forward to the day when our nation supports full marriage equality for its LGBT citizens. The continuing support of you, our friends and neighbors, is greatly appreciated.

Red Wing PFLAG members and supporters

Bruce and Kathy Ause

Richard Bates

Dick and Carol Eick

Kiki Gheen

Dan and Sandy Guida

Dale Hanson

Bob and Marge Lewis

Matt and Joan Majovski

Tim Mundy

Charles and Regina Nicolosi

Jerett Reuter

Jo Seton

Sarah Singer

Kent Speight

Linda Thielbar

Ellie Tiedemann

Burt and Judy Will

Barbara Toomey Yara

Red Wing

Tags: opinion, letters