Minnesota On Cusp Of Legalizing Gay Marriage

The Minnesota House passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage this afternoon, and it’s expected the Senate will pass the bill Monday.

This would make Minnesota the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

At University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Pride Center, peer educator and sophomore Ruthann Aitch is all smiles as she talks about same-sex marriage becoming a reality in Minnesota. She says many people in the LGBT community talk about moving east where people are more accepting, but Aitch says that’s changing.

“Ultimately, as a lesbian woman, I want to be somewhere where I can potentially get married if I want to. So, if that means moving, that’s what it means. But, ultimately, I want to stay here, so it’s awesome to think that I might just be able to move into Minnesota and get married – and maybe even potentially Wisconsin.”

Some members of the La Crosse area’s LGBT community are already talking about moving across the river to Minnesota if the marriage bill passes.

Jackson Jantzen is the executive director of the 7 Rivers LGBT Resource Center in downtown La Crosse.

“I can completely understand why some folks who are looking at co-parenting or issues related to estate planning or health reasons might want to move across the border, just so they know they have those protections.”

Iowa, another border state, legalized same-sex marriage in 2009.

Court recorders on the three Iowa counties bordering Wisconsin say they’ve had a steady number of Wisconsin same-sex couples come in for marriage licenses. If the couple continues to reside in Wisconsin, then the license is solely symbolic.