Mourning and tears of joy will greet Monday's vote on same-sex marriage.
Outside the state Capitol, where the state Senate is expected to vote to legalize gay marriage Monday afternoon, Don Lee had set up a gravestone reading "RIP Marriage 2013."
"It is the end of marriage as we know it," said Lee, of Eagan. "You still have the word but you don't have the meaning."
He said while a ban on same-sex marriage did not belong in the constitution, he mourned the ending of the connection between solemn marriage vows and procreation.
Lee was far outnumbered in his solo protest by supporters of legalization, who crowded the Capitol's august steps to greet incoming Senators with songs and cheers.
Lisa Vecoli, of Minneapolis, was among the greeters.
"I didn't expect it to come for a long time," Vecoli said of the expected legalization.
She said she sobbed with joy in her office on Thursday when she and her partner watched the Minnesota House approve the marriage bill on a 75-59 vote. She was prepared for the emotion to flow on Monday.
