Nathan Meyer, 30, a high school English teacher from the St. Paul suburb of Roseville, is part of a team of volunteers who aim to reach 1 million Minnesota voters before the state votes on Nov. 6 on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. “All people get married for the same reasons. And my parents and their marriage, that’s common ground for people,” Meyer said.
Ballot initiatives banning the legal recognition of same-sex marriage have succeeded in 31 states, and no state has ever approved same-sex marriage by popular vote. In this year’s Nov. 6 election, advocates of same-sex marriage hope to change that.
Maine – which rejected gay marriage in a referendum in 2009 by 53 to 47 percent – could become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage solely by popular vote. In Washington and Maryland, where the state legislatures passed laws expanding marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples earlier this year, citizens will vote on whether to let the laws stand.