News & Commentary

Fabulous with a chance of rainbows: so reads the forecast for the weekend of June 28, when a crowd of hundreds of thousands will converge on Hennepin Avenue and Loring Park. Their mission? To celebrate the annual Twin Cities Pride Festival. The year 2013 marks the 41st time that LGBT individuals and their supporters have gathered for Pride, and this year, there is certainly cause for celebration. Barely six months after Minnesota became the first state to defeat an attempted constitutional ban of marriage for same-sex couples, Minnesota lawmakers turned around to legalize just that. On Aug. 1, 2013, same-sex couples will be able to legally marry in our Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Looking around the world today, I am struck with the nagging suspicion that too many of us here in America take our freedoms for granted. We think that the world was always built on the ability to speak your mind without fear of repercussions from the state. We think that because we were born into an environment of stability and opportunity that everyone has the same chance to succeed, and that it is only laziness that is holding people back. We think that America will last forever because that is simply the way it has to be.

Contributed by Ben Feist, Legislative Director of the ACLU-MN.

Contributed by Angel Manjarrez, Greater Minnesota Racial Justice Project Organizer

The ACLU-MN is excited that Twin Cities Pride has chosen Chris Kluwe as the grand marshal for the 2013 Pride Parade. The ACLU-MN nominated Kluwe for grand marshal because of his outsanding commitment to civil liberties and his efforts in the fight for marriage fairness.

In 2012 Minnesota made history when it became the first state to vote down a ban on the freedom to marry. Now we have an opportunity to take the next step and pass legislation that would grant the freedom to marry to all Minnesotans.

Contributed by Charles Samuelson, Executive Director

While Chris Kluwe has long been a supporter of civil liberties and equal rights, it wasn’t until he penned an open letter to Delegate Burns of Maryland that he became well known for those beliefs. With a sharp wit and his notoriety for being the Viking’s punter since 2005 Chris has quickly become an icon for the LGBT rights movement in Minnesota and beyond.

Contributed by Sandra Feist. Sandra has been a member of the ACLU-MN Board of Directors since September 2010. She is a Partner at the law firm, Grell & Feist, where she practices immigration law.