Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton on
Tuesday called lawmakers courageous for approving a gay marriage
bill.
A large crowd estimated at 6,000 joined
Dayton at the Capitol as he signed the bill into law.
“What a day for Minnesota, and what a
difference a year and an election can make in our state!” Dayton
said before putting pen to paper. “Last year there were concerns
that marriage equality would be banned here forever. Now, my
signature will make it legal in two and a half months. First and
foremost, I want to thank the people of Minnesota who voted last year
to defeat a very destructive constitutional amendment and also to
elect courageous legislators who would support this monumental social
advance. I want to thank the activists … who worked so long and so
hard to win this extraordinary victory.”
“Last week, I suggested to you
legislators that you read John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage
book. Instead, you wrote its latest chapter. By your political
courage, you join that pantheon of exceptional leaders who did
something truly extraordinary: You changed the course of history for
our state and our nation.”
In an appearance on MSNBC, Dayton, who
had called on lawmakers to approve the bill, said that the bill's
prospects looked dark at the start of the legislative session.
“I think most observers would have
said that it's not going to pass,” Dayton said.
He went on to applaud the five
Republicans and the many Democrats from districts with majorities
opposed to marriage equality who voted for the bill.
“Senator [Branden] Petersen … is
one of the real heroes in this. Republican senator who came out very
early and said he was going to support it. There were four members,
Republicans in the Minnesota House, who defied some of the radical
right of their party to vote for it. And people ended up voting
their own conscience. Democrats who are from rural areas who may
have some challenges next fall because of this vote who didn't have
to vote because it passed 75 to 59. But they wanted to vote, they
wanted to do the right thing. And they were willing to put their
careers on the line because they knew this was the right thing to
do,” he said. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)