Select A Candidate ®

Select A Candidate


MPR News
Radio

Listen Now

On Air

BBC World Service

Schedule

Shortcuts
Hourly Newscast
Hosts
Station Map

Other Radio Streams from MPR

Classical MPR
Radio Heartland

Services

Candidate Positions on Gay Marriage

The following positions reflect those used for each candidate in the Select A Candidate survey. They come from the candidates; public statements, Web sites, and responses to Minnesota Public Radio questionnaires. In some cases, candidiates have failed to respond to inquiries, and their position is noted as "No known opinion."

Question: Do you favor or oppose a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman?
Dean BarkleyDean Barkley ANSWER OPTION: Oppose
 CANDIDATE'S POSITION: It's long past time to acknowledge that the equal protection clause of the Constitution applies to all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation, in the same way it applies to all of our citizens regardless of race, religion or gender.

Norm ColemanNorm Coleman ANSWER OPTION: Favor
 CANDIDATE'S POSITION: Voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman in June 2006. (More Info)

Al FrankenAl Franken ANSWER OPTION: Oppose
 CANDIDATE'S POSITION: In a written statement to MPR Franken said, "I would strongly oppose such an amendment. We shouldn't be writing discrimination into the Constitution. I'm for equal rights in marriage, since I've been married for almost 32 years and don't really feel like my marriage is threatened by two people of the same sex making a public and binding commitment to each other. I do understand that many reasonable people of good faith disagree with this position but agree that all Americans should have the same legal rights and we shouldn't let right-wing ideologues invent divisions that don't exist. "The issue of equal rights in employment is actually a more important issue that gets very little attention. In a large majority of states, it is still legal to fire someone simply for being gay. That's wrong. Minnesota is not one of those states, and I will fight to end employment discrimination based on sexual preference nationwide."

Latest News & Features