page_title: Same-sex marriage in Minnesota
section_title: Efforts to amend the State Constitution
hierarchical_section_title: Same-sex marriage in Minnesota / Efforts to amend the State Constitution
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Julian Bond and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton at a rally opposing the Minnesota Marriage Amendment.
context_page_description: Same-sex marriage is fully legal and recognized in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Same-sex marriages have been recognized if performed in other jurisdictions since July 1, 2013, and the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on August 1, 2013. After 51.9% of state voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in November 2012, the Minnesota Legislature passed a same-sex marriage bill in May 2013, which Governor Mark Dayton signed on May 14, 2013. Minnesota was the second state in the Midwest, after Iowa, to legalize marriage between same-sex couples, and the first in the region to do so by enacting legislation rather than by court order. Minnesota was the first state to reject a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, though Arizona rejected one in 2006 that banned all legal recognition and later approved one banning only marriage.
  Minnesota is also where one of the first same-sex marriage cases in the world took place. In Baker v. Nelson, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously held in 1972 that it did not violate the U.S. Constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, and the U.S.
context_section_description: In 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009, bills were introduced into the Minnesota House and Senate to have Minnesota voters consider an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman and outlawing civil unions that offer comparable rights.
  On May 11, 2011, the Minnesota Senate passed a bill to place a proposed amendment to the State Constitution on the ballot that would ban same-sex marriage, though not civil unions. The question presented to voters on the ballot read: "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?" The amendment was defeated by Minnesota voters, making Minnesota the first U.S. state to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Arizona rejected a ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions in 2006 and then adopted a ban on only same-sex marriages in 2008. Minnesota's constitutional amendment proposal was rejected by 51.9% of voters.
caption: Julian Bond and Governor Mark Dayton at a "Vote No" rally against Minnesota Amendment 1 in June 2012.
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