LGBTQ+ life in Minnesota is a chronological collection of stories that provide a glimpse into the history and sometimes turbulent nature of the LGBTQ+ experience in the state. This curation is not to highlight individual Minnesotans based on their orientation, but rather to present voices of and on the LGBTQ+ community…as it relates to the enduring fight for civil rights, societal achievements, and the act of many in attaining acceptance and inclusion in towns, family, healthcare, church, education, politics, arts, and the workplace.
July 5, 1996 - MPR’s Paula Schroeder interviews local playwright Martha Boesing, who discusses her play “These Are My Sisters.” The one-person play explores the political and artistic roots of feminism in the 1970's.
January 28, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports that the battle lines that marked the fight over passage of Minnesota’s Human Rights Bill have not gone away. Roberts interviews numerous individuals on the law’s effect.
April 29, 1997 - MPR’s Karen-Louise Boothe reports on members of the Minnesota House debating for more than two hours the merits DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), a measure banning same-sex marriage. The roll call vote was preceeded by more than two hours of sometimes very personal and emotional testimony. In the end, representatives voted overwhelmingly to keep it as amended to the omnibus health and human services bill.
May 5, 1997 - One of the most widely debated issues in the modern workplace is whether employers should offer domestic partner benefits. In Minnesota, local governments which have sought to include unmarried, same-sex partners in their health insurance plans have run into legal roadblocks. But in the private sector, where the competition is growing for talented workers, more companies and organizations are finding domestic partner benefit packages make good business sense.
May 14, 1997 - MPR’s Karen-Louise Boothe reports that a bill banning same-sex marriage in Minnesota appears likely to pass this legislative session. A ban successfully passed out of a joint House-Senate conference committee, which included it in the omnibus health-finance bill.
June 26, 1997 - MPR’s John Rabe interviews Jeanne Manford, co-founder of support group organization Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Manford shares thoughts on her son and about the organization.
July 27, 1997 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports outside All God’s Children’s Metropolitan Church, where picketers from Fred Phelps anti-gay group were met by hundreds of gay rights supporters. Attenddees at service included four of the DFL gubernatorial candidates.
November 20, 1997 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles the Gay 90’s and the unanticipated consequences of non-gay crowd changing the scene at Minneapolis bar. Roberts interviews individuals about the reasons and its social impact to LGBTQ community.
April 14, 1999 - MPR’s Eric Jansen reports on Minneapolis’ Amazon Bookstore Collective taking internet giant Amazon.com to court, claiming trademark infringement and deceptive practices. Jansen interviews book shop owner and an Amazon.com spokesman.
October 1, 1999 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on how All God's Children Metropolitan Community Church is looking to broaden acceptance in a conservative community. Leaders of the Minneapolis church, which serves primarily gay and lesbian Christians, is praising the apparant successes of a branch church in Rochester. The extension of church has been meeting and growing in Rochester for more than a year.