MINNEAPOLIS, MN 5 April 2009 - Log Cabin Republicans of Minnesota (LCR-MN) applauds the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling granting same-sex couples the freedom to marry. The unanimous decision was written by Justice Mark Cady, who was appointed to the court by former four-term Republican Governor Terry Branstad. While LCR-MN believes that the best approach to equality is through the legislature, Friday’s decision nonetheless marks another significant milestone in the ongoing fight for civil marriage equality, this time in the Heartland of America in a neighboring state.
In Minnesota, disappointingly, civil marriage and other equality bills failed to even make it to the legislative floor for honest debate - and not because of prevention from Republicans. This fact is another example that the best path towards eliminating government-sponsored discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens is one that engages the support of fair-minded legislators of all parties. LCR-MN continues its work to educate Republican elected officials and leaders on the inequalities that gays and lesbians face every day in Minnesota and the legal barriers to building and sustaining strong committed relationships in their lives.
Unfortunately, the Iowa ruling has the potential to spark additional attacks on fairness and equality from misguided groups that create fear and bigotry from their selective use of historical information and unsubstantiated “facts”. If these groups are truly interested in the noble mission of strengthening families they would be well advised to focus on meaningful, relevant activities that actually do protect marriage and advance children and families.
LCR-MN continues its work ensuring inclusiveness in the Republican Party for all citizens who share core values of limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual liberty and individual responsibility, strong national defense, and strong, stable families. Fairness and equality do not, and cannot, belong to just one party label.
Log Cabin Republicans of Minnesota promotes legislation to provide basic fairness for gay and lesbian Americans and works to build a more inclusive GOP. It is a chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, a 30-year old organization which has state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time office in Washington, DC, a federal political action committee and state political action committees.
