Minnesota Amendment 1

On November 6, 2012, Minnesota voters rejected a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution. Minnesota Amendment 1, also called the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, would have limited marriage to heterosexual couples. When the amendment failed to pass, Minnesota became the first and only state to reject a "same-sex marriage" ban through the will of voters rather than a court ruling.

Calls to define marriage by amending Minnesota’s constitution date to 2003. At the time, state law already prohibited marriages between people of the same sex. Republican Michele Bachmann, however—then a state senator—urged legislators to add a passage to the state’s constitution that defined marriage in sex-specific terms.

Bachmann introduced marriage bills in the Senate in 2004 and 2006. Both failed. On May 11, 2011, after they had secured majorities in both houses of the state legislature, Senate Republicans passed a bill that created a voter referendum on the definition of marriage. The House approved it on May 21.

The bill (SF 1308) proposed adding a section to article XIII of the constitution that would recognize only marriages between one man and one woman. Representative Tim Kelly of Red Wing, a Republican, voted against it. He was one of four Republicans to do so. Democrats Lyle Koenen of Granite Falls and Denise Dittrich of Champlin voted their support. Though his office did not give him the power to block the bill, Governor Mark Dayton issued a symbolic veto on May 25.

Legislators wrote a ballot question directing voters to vote “yes” or “no” on the amendment (Minnesota Amendment 1) in the November 2012 general election. It asked, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?”

After the bill passed, advocacy groups mobilized to reach constituents. Leaders from Project 515 and Outfront Minnesota—two LGBT rights groups already active in the Twin Cities—joined to create Minnesotans United for All Families. Volunteers registered voters, held rallies, canvassed door-to-door, and explained what was at stake in the referendum. From its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesotans United for All Families raised more than $10 million. Its biggest opponent, Minnesotans for Marriage, raised more than $5 million.

Organizers on both sides of the issue received strong support. Catholic groups were particularly involved in the “vote yes” campaign. By May 7, 2012, the Duluth diocese had donated $50,000 from a priest’s estate; the New Ulm diocese had given another $50,000. The largest contribution came from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which donated $650,000.

On September 12, Public Policy Polling (PPP) reported that 48 percent of Minnesotans supported the amendment and 47 percent opposed it. Then the balance began to shift. By November 3, PPP predicted that 45 percent of Minnesotans would vote “yes” and 52 percent would vote “no.”

On November 5, nearly three million people weighed in on the marriage amendment. About 48 percent voted in favor; about 51 percent voted in opposition. An estimated 40,430 people left the question blank. Since the votes in favor did not reach at least 50 percent of all those cast, the amendment failed.

The referendum’s results revealed stark regional and generational divides. The Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area produced the highest concentration of “no” votes.” About 64 percent of Hennepin County voters and 61 percent of Ramsey County voters rejected the amendment. Nine counties tallied at least 70 percent “yes” votes—six of them in the state’s rural southwest. More than 75 percent of Pipestone County voted “yes.” In all counties, a majority of seniors supported the amendment; most voters under the age of thirty opposed it.

The amendment’s failure made Minnesota the first and only state to reject a "same-sex marriage" ban through the will of voters rather than a court ruling. Energized by the amendment’s defeat, marriage-equality supporters and legislators worked together to draft a bill that legalized marriage equality. Governor Dayton signed the bill into law just over six months later, on May 14, 2013.

Having enlisted the help of more than 27,000 volunteers and 67,000 donors, Minnesotans United had accomplished its goal. The group dissolved on May 15.