Marriage License Refused in Hennepin County
In 1970, Minnesota's laws did not forbid two adult men to receive a license that would solemnize a marriage contract. FREE endorsed Michael McConnell's desire to marry Jack Baker. They applied for a marriage license in Hennepin County, on the day before Michael's 28th birthday.
The rule of law guarantees recognition to matter not denied. Nevertheless, the Clerk of Court refused to comply with the marriage law, as written. He said he has "no intention of issuing a marriage license".
Baker and McConnell sued but lost in District Court. The Chief Justice and all Associated Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court concurred, for this reason: "The institution of marriage as a union of man and woman, uniquely involving the procreation or rearing of children within a family, is as old as the book of Genesis".
The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union appealed the decision. A statutory right to bond with the adult of one's choice was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, then dismissed (10 October 1972) "for want of a substantial federal question". The high court has again accepted that question for review in 2013, this time as an inherent constitutional right. The opinion published by the Minnesota Supreme Court likely will not be upheld as constitutional fact.
A world-wide movement for marriage equality emanated from Minneapolis. Interest everywhere accelerated. Hundreds of letters arrived after news reports circulated around the globe. Again after featured first in LIFE then LOOK magazine. More, after appearances on the Phil Donahue Show (WLWD-TV, Dayton OH), Kennedy & Co. (WLS-TV, Chicago IL), David Suskind Show (New York, NY) and elsewhere.
Gay marriage saw “little or no enthusiasm” from the American Civil Liberties Union. Gay historians ignored the midwest because they "personally had political objections to gay marriage activism." According to Thomas Kraemer, “gay marriage activism was rejected by early gay activists who were mostly interested in sexual freedom and gay liberation.” Perhaps that explains why the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union was alone in its defense of gay marriage.
Read more about this topic: Jack Baker (activist), Student Activism, Fight Repression of Erotic Expression (FREE)
Famous quotes containing the words marriage, license, refused and/or county:
“All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest—never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership.”
—Ann Landers (b. 1918)
“Only one marriage I regret. I remember after I got that marriage license I went across from the license bureau to a bar for a drink. The bartender said, “What will you have, sir?” And I said, “A glass of hemlock.””
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“all that we might have been,
all that we were—fire, tears,
wit, taste, martyred ambition—
stirs like the memory of refused adultery
the drained and flagging bosom of our middle years.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“But I would say to my fellows, once for all, As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)