Supporters of a constitutional
amendment to ban gay marriage in Minnesota have secured a booth
inside the state fair.
Initially, both supporters and
opponents of the amendment said they were told by officials that it
was too late to participate in this year's event.
The group Minnesota
for Marriage – a coalition of the Minnesota Family Council, the
Minnesota Catholic Conference and the National Organization for
Marriage (NOM), the nation's most vociferous opponent of gay marriage
– set up its informational booth outside the fairgrounds, in front
of the Church of the Holy Childhood.
But on Thursday, the group announced it
had secured space inside the fair.
“We are delighted to be on the
fairgrounds and expanding our dialogue with fair-goers about why the
Minnesota Marriage Amendment is needed. We're off to a great start.
Dozens of volunteers have stepped up to staff our booth, talk with
voters and recruit fellow supporters to help pass the Minnesota
Marriage Amendment next year,” the group said.
Donald MacFarland, a spokesman for
Minnesotans
United for All Families, the group spearheading the campaign
against passage of the measure, said he did not know how Minnesota
for Marriage wrangled space inside the fair.
“I don't know,” MacFarland told On
Top Magazine during a brief telephone interview. “But I'm
certain there is a rational explanation. I'm certain officials have
not taken sides.”
MacFarland added that while his group
did not have a booth at the fair, it was represented at the event.
Volunteers were talking to fair-goers from inside the booths of the
DFL, Greens and Independent parties.