Transcripts

MIKE MULCAHY: The bill has been referred to as gay rights legislation. It would change the state human rights law to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment, and education. Current law bans discrimination based on race, sex, marital status, religion, and some other factors. During the Senate debate, the Bill's sponsor, Allan Spear of Minneapolis, talked about his own homosexuality. He told his colleagues that anyone who thinks being gay is merely a lifestyle choice is mistaken.

ALLAN SPEAR: Well, let me tell you that I am a 55-year-old gay man, and I am not just going through a phase.

[LAUGHTER]

I can also assure you that my sexual orientation is not something I chose, like choosing to wear a blue shirt and a red tie today. Why in the world would I have chosen it?

MIKE MULCAHY: Opponents of the bill in both the House and Senate said it would give gays and lesbians special privileges. Republican Representative Hilda Bettermann of Brandon said the state shouldn't sanction homosexual behavior.

HILDA BETTERMANN: Now, what we will be voting for today is a bill that gives legitimacy and credibility to homosexuality. Our sexuality is a very private matter, I believe. Please do not give someone else's sexuality more credibility and legitimacy than mine.

MIKE MULCAHY: The gay rights bill was not a partisan issue. Some DFLers also spoke against it. One of the most eloquent speeches in favor of it was given by Republican Senate Minority Leader Dean Johnson. Citing the examples of Abraham Lincoln and Hubert Humphrey, he told the Senate that politicians have a duty to vote for justice.

DEAN JOHNSON: Members of the Senate, we have been entrusted with the public's business for the good of the state of Minnesota over a long period of time. And even though I don't fully understand the issue of gay and lesbian and homosexual lifestyle, I think it is prudent upon each of us that we vote as a majority to give rights to the minority.

MIKE MULCAHY: The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 37 to 30, but because of Senate procedures, a final vote won't come until next week. In the house where many believed it would face stronger opposition, the Bill passed fairly easily by a vote of 78 to 55. House author Minneapolis DFLer Karen Clark credited other supporters for the margin of victory.

KAREN CLARK: There were incredible moving speeches by both Republicans and Democrats that brought on votes that I didn't know were there, for sure. Many people were on the fence, and I think the powerful speeches of the representatives made it happen.

MIKE MULCAHY: Both houses added amendments clarifying that the bill does not sanction sexual abuse of children, and allowing churches and youth groups not to hire gays and lesbians. The house made another change that would allow duplex owners not to rent to homosexuals. Allan Spear says the differences between the two bills will delay the legislation's progress toward the governor's desk.

ALLAN SPEAR: It has to come back to center. We have to make the substitution. And then I think we're going to have to go to a conference committee to reconcile the differences. So all this is probably going to take a week to 10 days. But we've got strong votes up there on the boards in both houses. It's going to take another vote in each house. But I think it's going to stick.

MIKE MULCAHY: Governor Arne Carlson has promised to sign the Gay Rights Bill. I'm Mike Mulcahy, Minnesota Public Radio at the Capitol.