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Will Minn. lawmakers face retribution for gay marriage vote?

As Minnesota lawmakers voted to support gay marriage, some knew it was a vote that could cost them their jobs.

One lawmaker feeling heat is Rep. Joe Radinovich, a Democrat from Crosby, who called his support of gay marriage, “the right thing to do.”

Radinovich represents a district that supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage last November and a recall effort is now underway.

In his speech on the Senate floor Tuesday before voting to support gay marriage, Sen. Branden Petersen, a Republican from Andover, openly wondered what impact the vote would have on his political future.

“You’re going to see a few races where it might make a difference,” says Hamline University professor David Schultz.

While Schultz believes a handful of lawmakers could be at risk for their votes on gay marriage, he cautions that the next elections are far off.

The Minnesota Senate isn’t up for re-election until November 2016. House members are up for re-election in November 2014.

“As they always say, in politics a week is an eternity. Eighteen months is more than an eternity,” says Schultz.

Lawmakers in other states that have approved gay marriage have not seen a backlash.

Third Way, a national think tank, studied Washington state and New York where a whopping 97 percent of lawmakers who voted for gay marriage and ran for re-election, won.

“It gets back to the fact that once something is law, once people get used to it, then they are less likely to take it against people in terms of how they are going to vote,” says Schultz.

Schultz believes the lawmakers most at-risk for their marriage vote, are lawmakers who would have been at-risk anyway for a variety of other issues.

“I think it’s going to be the bread and butter issues about taxes, the budget and the economy,” says Schultz.

It’s time to Eliminate the Tax Penalty on Health Insurance for Domestic Partners Today, on Tax Day, we are reminded while our country continues to evolve in its views towards gay and lesbian couples, our tax code lags. Married same-sex couples must continue to cope with financial hurdles other married couples don’t have to deal with.  Businesses now routinely offer family health care benefits to domestic partners and same-sex couples who are allowed to marry under state laws, but federal tax law punishes both the businesses that offer these benefits and the employees who use them. It treats the value of these benefits as income, forcing the employer and the employee to pay extra taxes that would not apply to other couples. Not only does this cost more for everyone, it is convoluted to administer, because businesses must keep a separate set of books for employees with a same-sex partner in order to calculate these added taxes—including payroll taxes. Simply changing the tax code to put health coverage for domestic partners on the same footing as coverage of other family members would remove this headache for employers and ensure that all employees are treated equally and can receive the protections they deserve. Read more in our Idea Brief: Eliminating the Tax Penalty on Health Insurance for Domestic Partners.

It’s time to Eliminate the Tax Penalty on Health Insurance for Domestic Partners

Today, on Tax Day, we are reminded while our country continues to evolve in its views towards gay and lesbian couples, our tax code lags. Married same-sex couples must continue to cope with financial hurdles other married couples don’t have to deal with. 

Businesses now routinely offer family health care benefits to domestic partners and same-sex couples who are allowed to marry under state laws, but federal tax law punishes both the businesses that offer these benefits and the employees who use them. It treats the value of these benefits as income, forcing the employer and the employee to pay extra taxes that would not apply to other couples.

Not only does this cost more for everyone, it is convoluted to administer, because businesses must keep a separate set of books for employees with a same-sex partner in order to calculate these added taxes—including payroll taxes.

Simply changing the tax code to put health coverage for domestic partners on the same footing as coverage of other family members would remove this headache for employers and ensure that all employees are treated equally and can receive the protections they deserve.

Read more in our Idea Brief: Eliminating the Tax Penalty on Health Insurance for Domestic Partners.

“Voters go on a journey but it’s a one way journey… Once you support same-sex marriage you’re not going to go back. If you’re evolving on that issue you’re evolving in one direction.”

Third Way’s Jim Kessler discussing marriage equality in “Gays, God, But Not Guns - How Culture War Politics Has Changed And How It Hasn’t.”

WATCH: Is the fight for gay marriage the new civil rights movement?

Earlier today The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart hosted a Google+ Hangout about the state of marriage in America. He was joined by the Center for American Progress’s Winnie Stachelberg, Third Way’s Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, Capital Insight’s Jon Cohen and National Black Justice Coalition’s Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks.

Marriage in the Supreme Court: What Could Happen? (Hollingsworth v. Perry) The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear two cases this term involving marriage for gay couples. This chart explains some possible outcomes for the case that challenges California’s Proposition 8: Hollingsworth v. Perry. The Court will likely hear oral arguments next week and will render a decision by the end of June 2013.  Read more details in our newest memo: Supreme Court Oral Argument Cheat Sheet: The Marriage Cases.

Marriage in the Supreme Court: What Could Happen? (Hollingsworth v. Perry)

The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear two cases this term involving marriage for gay couples. This chart explains some possible outcomes for the case that challenges California’s Proposition 8: Hollingsworth v. Perry. The Court will likely hear oral arguments next week and will render a decision by the end of June 2013. 

Read more details in our newest memo: Supreme Court Oral Argument Cheat Sheet: The Marriage Cases.

Marriage in the Supreme Court: What Could Happen? (United States v. Windsor) The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear two cases this term involving marriage for gay couples. This chart explains some possible outcomes for the case that challenges the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA): United States v. Windsor. The Court will likely hear oral arguments next week and will render a decision by the end of June 2013.  Read more details in our newest memo: Supreme Court Oral Argument Cheat Sheet: The Marriage Cases.

Marriage in the Supreme Court: What Could Happen? (United States v. Windsor)

The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear two cases this term involving marriage for gay couples. This chart explains some possible outcomes for the case that challenges the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA): United States v. Windsor. The Court will likely hear oral arguments next week and will render a decision by the end of June 2013. 

Read more details in our newest memo: Supreme Court Oral Argument Cheat Sheet: The Marriage Cases.

How Gay Marriage Finally Won at the Polls

The inside strategy behind victory in Maryland and Maine.

By Nathaniel Frank, Slate

Four years ago, LGBT advocates were devastated by the voter approval of Proposition 8 in California, which reversed a state court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. In that fight, the political consultant Frank Schubert, who led the anti-gay forces there and in the four states that voted on marriage this week, created a deadly ad campaign that played on lingering fears that gay equality threatens kids. In his advertisement, a schoolgirl returns home and cheerfully announces what she learned in school—that a prince can marry a prince, and she can marry a princess! In 2009, Schubert used the identical playbook to win a ballot measure in Maine invalidating the legislature’s decision to let gays wed.

Just three years later, the people of Maine did an about face, and along with Maryland voted Tuesday to let gay couples marry. (We’ll update about Washington and Minnesota when results are in.) Until this election, every state that had held a popular vote on the question—32 in a row—had rejected same-sex marriage. Maine and Maryland not only ended the losing streak but may have turned the war, depriving defenders of straight-only marriage of their latest talking point: that the people don’t want gays to marry. (And let’s not forget that Wisconsin elected Tammy Baldwin, the nation’s first openly gay senator!)

How same-sex marriage ballot initiatives turned around is all about the long game. The gay rights movement succeeded using one of the most sophisticated issue campaign operations ever deployed—and by making it stick with old-fashioned commitment, hard work, and face-to-face conversations.

(More after the jump)

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We’re at a tipping point with upcoming battles for marriage equality in the states, in Congress, and in the courts, and a decisive factor will be the depth of support among moderates and Independents for allowing gay couples to marry.  Third Way has created our bipartisan Commitment Campaign to help policymakers and advocates persuade middle America to strongly support marriage for gay couples. Our groundbreaking research on how Americans in the middle view this issue has shown that framing marriage in terms of commitment, not rights, works far better than traditional approaches. The purpose of the Commitment Campaign is to speed up America’s journey towards equality by developing and disseminating messages, strategies, and policies that help policymakers, advocacy groups, the media, and other influencers most effectively win support from the middle on marriage for gay couples. Our hope is that when the landmark cases reach the Supreme Court, both the judges and our country will be ready for them. Visit the Commitment Campaign to view our work, including reports, educational resources, and infographics that illustrate the progress being made in this effort.

We’re at a tipping point with upcoming battles for marriage equality in the states, in Congress, and in the courts, and a decisive factor will be the depth of support among moderates and Independents for allowing gay couples to marry. 

Third Way has created our bipartisan Commitment Campaign to help policymakers and advocates persuade middle America to strongly support marriage for gay couples. Our groundbreaking research on how Americans in the middle view this issue has shown that framing marriage in terms of commitment, not rights, works far better than traditional approaches.

The purpose of the Commitment Campaign is to speed up America’s journey towards equality by developing and disseminating messages, strategies, and policies that help policymakers, advocacy groups, the media, and other influencers most effectively win support from the middle on marriage for gay couples. Our hope is that when the landmark cases reach the Supreme Court, both the judges and our country will be ready for them.

Visit the Commitment Campaign to view our work, including reports, educational resources, and infographics that illustrate the progress being made in this effort.

VIDEO: Marriage in New York

In 2011, New York became the sixth and largest state to recognize the freedom to marry for loving, committed gay and lesbian couples. More than doubling the number of Americans living in a state with marriage equality, and passing with bi-partisan support, the victory in New York was a pivotal moment for our country. Watch this video to learn more about the keys to victory in New York, including years of public education and collaboration by donors, and what it means for the country.

Third Way Helps Moderate Democrats Craft Gay Marriage Stance

By Jennifer Bendery, The Huffington Post

With the Democratic Party poised to back same-sex marriage in its 2012 platform for the first time in history, Democratic lawmakers, particularly moderates, are under more pressure than ever to articulate their views on an issue they may not support or be comfortable talking about.

Never fear, says centrist-Democrat group Third Way, which unveiled a new primer on Wednesday to help moderates talk about why they support gay marriage — or why they still oppose it.

For those ready to publicly embrace the issue, Third Way provides six talking points:

  • Emphasize that marriage is about a lifetime commitment;
  • Don’t focus on words like “rights” and “benefits”;
  • Mention some of the “protections” denied to families by the Defense of Marriage Act;
  • Avoid using terms like “gay marriage” and instead say “marriage equality,” to reflect marriage is marriage; tell the story of your personal journey on the issue; and
  • Talk about religious liberty protections that remain in place.

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