1. Placing this amendment on the ballot has serious negative consequences for the ability of nonprofits to do their work. The pitting of one group of Minnesotans against another undermines Minnesota’s spirit of civil society, voluntarism and cooperation. The divisiveness surrounding the amendment will undermine nonprofits’ abilities to work on the community needs they are formed to address. This amendment represents a serious long-term threat to Minnesota’s ability to inspire service, compassion and mutual respect among future generations. Minnesota’s nonprofits work hard to provide services and promote participation in ways that respect all of the people in all of their communities. Amendments with similar language in other states have had policy implications that directly affect nonprofits and the people they serve. Nonprofits affected by such policy changes would include those working in the areas of adoption, domestic violence, youth development, human services, health care and public education.
   
2. The amendment is inconsistent with the spirit of the Minnesota Constitution. The basic framework of our state’s Constitution, and particularly its Article I Bill of Rights, is to guarantee the rights of citizens, not to restrict the rights of minorities. Amending the Constitution to put the rights of a minority to a popular vote is inconsistent with the intent of the Constitution and with Minnesota’s civil rights tradition. Since 1948, Minnesota has been in the forefront of support for civil rights protections when then-Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey called upon America to “get out of the shadow of states’ rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.”
   
3. Placing this amendment on the ballot will draw attention away from critical issues that nonprofits and their communities need candidates and elected officials to address now and in the future. The Constitutional amendment process should not be used to substitute for the work of the legislature. In this case, the Minnesota legislature has already acted on this issue, and the law they passed has been upheld by the courts. This amendment controversy will overshadow consideration of economic issues, health care, education, arts and culture, environmental protection and many other topics that deserve public attention.

MCN joins over 150 organizations who have signed a resolution with the Together Minnesota coalition stating their opposition to any amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that prohibits marriage, civil unions and/or legal protections for same-sex couples.

Actions MCN has taken:

• MCN sent a letter to each member organization, outlining our reasons for publicly opposing the proposed amendment.
• MCN hosted a press conference with several member organizations including, Family & Children’s Service, Minnesota Senior Federation, Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, Arts and Culture Partnership of St, Paul, and the National Association of Social Workers - Minnesota chapter, to publicly oppose this amendment based on its negative impact on nonprofits.
• MCN will be providing additional information to members about this and other proposed constitutional amendments in the coming months via briefings and information posted at MCN’s Web site (www.mncn.org) as well as through a breakout session at our upcoming joint annual conference with the Minnesota Council on Foundations, Common Ground for Common Good, to be held on October 4 and 5, 2006, in Saint Paul.

Where is the proposed amendment now?

• Tuesday, April 4, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 along party lines to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment banning marriage and its legal equivalent for same-sex couples. After 90 minutes of testimony, and debate by the members of the committee, Senator Thomas Neuville R-Northfield, offered a delete-all amendment which would deny courts any jurisdiction in defining marriage. The amendment passed 5-4 before the entire bill was voted down.
• MCN’s Public Policy Director, Marcia Avner, testified against the proposed amendment from the perspective of how this amendment would negatively impact the nonprofit sector and the people nonprofits serve.
  

To learn more about Together Minnesota, visit www.togetherminnesota.org
To view MCN's press release on the marriage amendment
To view Marcia Avner's testimony in opposition to the marriage amendment