"Brendan taught me what the locker room
can be like for young LGBT athletes, then
showed me the difference one person can
make by standing up for what is right," Patrick
Burke says on the organization's website.
To view the videos, visit goqnotes.
com/23050/.
— M.D.
National/Global
Minnesota legalizes marriage equality
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota became
the 12th state to legalize marriage rights for
same-sex couples when Gov. Mark Dayton
(pictured) signed the legislature's bill on
May 14. This victory comes just six months
after voters in the state defeated a proposed
constitutional amend
ment banning same-
sex marriage.
The Human Rights
Campaign (HRC),the
nation's largest LGBT
civil rights organiza
tion, was credited
for helping the state
achieve the legisla
tive victory.
"From staff
on-the-ground, research, advice, to financial
resources, HRC has been a valued and trusted
team member working alongside our state and
other national groups," State Sen. Scott Dibble
said in a release from the organization. "Thank
you, HRC."
Other national groups also offered
resources to Minnesotans United for All
Families. The National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force has offices in Minneapolis. Freedom to
Marry provided staff support.
"The transformative nature of people
talking about their love and their lives is
clear, as we see in reaching this milestone
in Minnesota, and in the fact that a clear and
growing majority of Americans supports the
freedom to marry," said Task Force Executive
Director Rea Carey in a statement
"Coming on the heels of victories in Rhode
Island and Delaware, this win for marriage
shows that the freedom to marry is a value that
Americans across the country stand behind,"
Thalia Zepatos, director of public engagement
for Freedom to Marry and strategic adviser for
Minnesotans United, said in a statement
Minnesota is the third state in May to pass
marriage equality legislation. Advocates said
pressure is rising on other states to pass simi
lar measures. Equality Illinois CEO Bernard
Cherkasov wants his state to take the plunge.
The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness
Act has already been introduced to the state
House of Representatives.
"Everyone has done the hard work to draft
a fair bill that provides for marriage equality
while guaranteeing religious freedom. Now, it
is imperative that Illinois House members do
their job at their next opportunity," Cherkasov
said in a press release.
These steps towards equality for LGBT
people are being made at a time when the
whole nation awaits with bated breath the
U.S. Supreme Court decisions on two cases
integral to the cause: Hollingsworth v. Perry,
challenging California's Proposition 8, and
United States v. Windsor, which challenges
the federal Defense of Marriage Actpassed
by Congress and signed by President Bill
Clinton in 1996.
— M.D.
Bakker breaks rainbow bread
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Rev. Jay Bakker,
the son of the former Fort Mill, S.C., PTL Club
leaders Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker
Messner, was in the city two days prior to
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton's signing of a new
gay marriage law. Bakker was opening another
branch of his Revolution Church on May 12.
Bakker and his wife recently relocated to
the state from New York, The Huffington Post
reported. The Brooklyn congregation contin
ues to meet in a bar.
A pro-LGBT supporter, Bakker also per
forms same-sex marriages.
During the opening of the church, blog
ger Tony Jones and his photographer wife
Courtney Perry and their daughter Lilly shared
a rainbow-colored communion bread that
they had made with the congregation. It was
done to show support for the then pending
pro-LGBT legislation.
"It was special to honor Chirst as well
as to honor those LGBT people who didn't
make it this far and hope for a better future.
It became a real source of redemption," The
Huffington Post reported Bakker saying as a
response to hearing about a gay man's former
partner who had committed suicide. He also
said that the bread became a "really beautiful
thing." (For detailed instructions on howto
make rainbow bread, visit taste-for-adventure.
tablespoon.com/2013/04/13/rainbow-bread/.)
The following day, he visited the state's
legislature at the time the Senate was taking
the vote on the marriage equality bill. The
Huffington Post added.
Revolution Church is progressive,
welcoming and affirming. It was created
in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1994. It was followed
up by churches in Atlanta, Ga., New York,
news
goqnotes.com/to/news
N.Y., Charlotte, N.C., and now the one in
Minnesota. Podcasts are available online.
Bakker has authored three books about
his life-long experiences within the Christian
community. "Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines
I've Crossed," explores questions that are
not asked and suggests that people welcome
other interpretations of the Bible as they read
it, leading to finding God with limitless grace.
"Fall to Grace" chronicles Bakker's life when
his parents were beset by scandal when
PTL was underfire. It asks readers to chal
lenge their understanding of salvation and
encourages non-believers to see Jesus with
fresh eyes. In "Son of a Preacher Man," he
searches for a way to find grace amidst the
turmoil of his life when it seemed remote.
—LM.
i nf o: Have news or other information ? Send
your press releases and updates for inclusion
in our News Notes: editor@goqnotes.com.
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May 2A-June 6.2013 qnotes 7