Minnesota House Primed for Gay Marriage Vote on Thursday

Roughly six months after Minnesotans struck down a statewide constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the Minnesota House and Senate seem poised to legalize gay marriage.

House Speaker and District 61B Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL) said Democrats have secured enough votes to push Clark's bill through, according to a report in the Pioneer Press. If the bill passes in the House on Thursday, Senate legislators may vote on it as early as Monday.

If the measure, sponsored by District 62A Rep. Karen Clark (DFL), is approved, Minnesota would become the 12th state in the nation to legalize gay marriage. On Tuesday, Delaware became the 11th state to approve it.

All of Eagan's current crop of legislators have been outspoken in their support of the Senate and House gay marriage proposals.

District 51 Sen. Jim Carlson (DFL) joined Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL), the sponsor of the Senate's gay marriage bill, to express his support for the proposal at a same-sex marriage rally earlier this year, according to a report in Politics in Minnesota.

District 51B Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL) and District 51A Rep. Sandy Masin (DFL), reached on Wednesday afternoon, indicated they planned to vote in favor of the bill.

"It's a personal issue for most people, it's a friend, it's a child, it's a sibling. For a long time, my value has been equality," Halverson said. "It's a bill providing for civil marriage; there's protection in there for religious freedoms that underscore what's already in the United States Consitution."

Check back with Patch on Friday morning for reactions from Eagan's local legislators.