politics

Supporters of traditional marriage and gay marriage turned out in roughly equal numbers Wednesday to take part in simultaneous rallies on the State Capitol grounds, where the separate gatherings sparked none of the small but loud confrontations seen elsewhere in recent days.

About 150 people gathered on the lawn in front of the Capitol to hear speakers from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which is on a national tour organizing rallies in support of measures to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

NOM president Brian Brown led supporters chanting "One man, one woman!" and said the tour stop in Minnesota was designed to fight proposed legislation that would legalize gay marriage in Minnesota. He called heterosexual marriage a "human universal" and "the basis of our society," while other speakers, including clergy members and a radio talk show host, cited the right of children to have both a mother and a father and criticized homosexual acts as lacking in spirituality.

At the same time, a comparable number of supporters of gay marriage assembled in the Capitol rotunda to hear from speakers and musicians supporting a state bill to recognize marriages for gays and lesbians in Minnesota.

Monica Meyer, interim executive director of OutFront Minnesota, which advocates for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual equality, said the rally was meant to provide a "peaceful avenue" for advocates to make themselves heard.

"I don't think it's productive to shout people down," she said. NOM events in Madison, Wis., on Tuesday and in several other cities prior to that prompted confrontations that led Brown to proclaim the group's free speech rights were being suppressed. Wednesday he praised Minnesota's gay marriage advocates for avoiding a confrontation.

"We need to have civil debate. This is an emotional issue," Brown said. "In other cities, we have not seen this kind of civility."

Peace, then police

However, toward the end of the rally, after gay rights advocates left the Capitol and surrounded the NOM rally with signs reading "Straight for Gay Rights" and "No Hate in Our State," Brown announced he had called police after spotting (a colorful term for bovine manure) written in chalk on the pavement in front of his podium. Someone washed off the chalk and police, who monitor all Capitol events, did not appear to leave the sidelines.

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, who spoke to supporters of gay marriage in the Capitol, has proposed a bill that would authorize gay marriage in Minnesota and said he believes such a bill will pass soon.

He said the opposition to gay marriage in Minnesota has eroded significantly in the past six years.

"The other side is on the wrong side of history," Marty said.

Brown said he wants Minnesota to join states that have passed a constitutional measure protecting traditional marriage. "We want Minnesota to be No. 32," he said.

NOM has two more stops in the state: Thursday at Granite City Baptist Church in St. Cloud and Friday at New Life Worship Center in Rochester.

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646