(POLL) Hopkins Residents Join Fight Over Marriage Amendment
Disclosure forms show at least three people with Hopkins connections made donations to groups involved in the debate.
Hopkins residents are helping to fund the fight over a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in Minnesota.
On Wednesday, donation totals to the main groups on either side of the issue were made public.
Minnesota for Marriage, a coalition of groups formed in an effort to get the marriage amendment approved this November, raised $830,000 in 2011. The group has not publicly released its full donor list, but none of the listed donors appeared to have Hopkins connections.
"Not only have we generated a great deal of financial support for the campaign, we have generated incredible, broad-based citizens support," Minnesota for Marriage Chairman John Helmberger told the Star Tribune.
On the other side of the debate, Minnesotans United for All Families raised $1.2 million from more than 5,000 donors in 2011. Of those donors, two are Hopkins residents and at least one works in Hopkins. Together they contributed $1,200.
(Click on the PDFs to the right of the article to view reports from the organizations.)
Hopkins legislators have all spoken against a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Perhaps most notable has been Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A), who asked at a committee hearing last year, "How many more gay people does God have to create before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around?"
Video of Simon’s remarks became a big YouTube draw and garnered the legislator some national attention.
Bruce Rowan
4:28 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Every single person who gives money to the Catholic Church is supporting the Amendment drive, due to the Church's campaign to get it passed.
Kathleen Nelson
5:53 pm on Thursday, February 2, 2012
Bruce, or anyone else who knows the answer: how can the church maintain its status as a tax-exempt organization when it is getting close to telling church members that they MUST support this amendment. Priests have already been told to keep their own opinions to themselves or face defrocking. I "resigned" my membership(?!) in this diocese years ago when a state senator was denied communion at his own mother's funeral because his political stance was pro-choice. I wish someone would challenge the tax status of the church because of how politicized they have become. There's an issue I could put some money towards!
Alice Collings
6:13 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
I am not a Catholic, but Lutheran and I support the Catholic Church's stand.
Sheri
9:50 am on Thursday, February 2, 2012
The fact that our country has fought so hard to give civil rights to women and african-americans but yet still can't give equal rights to all, shows that our country still has not come as far as we would like to think. There is really no difference here! A group of people are trying to impose their will on another group of people. This issue truly makes me sad as a Christian, American, human! God creates and loves us all as beautiful, unique individuals.