A new proposal to regulate the controversial “ex-gay” therapy treatment for gay and lesbian youth has not been introduced yet, but the bill’s chief author is already trying to clear up some confusion. Rep. Susan Allen, DFL-Minneapolis, said early press reports about the proposal have referred to an attempt to “ban” that kind of therapy, which is not true.

Rep. Karen Clark

The court’s ruling means gay couples in Minnesota -- which will be able to be legally married starting Aug. 1 thanks to a law passed in the Legislature this year -- will now also have the federal benefits of a married couple.

State Rep. Karen Clark, who was the lead sponsor of legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, will receive the lifetime achievement award as part of the fourth annual Leaders in Public Policy awards, sponsored by Capitol Report and Politics in Minnesota. Clark and the other honorees will be recognized at a ceremony at the Saint Paul Hotel on July 11.

The ceremony marked a dramatic shift in Minnesota, where two years ago lawmakers voted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban gay marriages. Six months ago, voters rejected that amendment by a more than 5 point margin. Come August 1, same-sex couples in the state will be able to apply for wedding licenses and couples married in other states will have their union recognized in Minnesota.

On Thursday afternoon the Minnesota House passed its long-watched bill to legalize same-sex marriage by a 75-59 vote that followed roughly three hours of floor debate.

Rep. Karen Clark has authored a House bill to legalize gay marriage — a bill that DFL caucus leaders now believe has votes enough to pass. In her three decades in office, Clark has driven many changes in the state, and not just in the realm of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues.

The bill cleared the committee in on a voice vote after a short discussion of a new fiscal note attached to the bill. Budget officials now estimate a law allowing same-sex couples to wed will cost the state about $688,000 a year to provide health insurance benefits to the spouses of state employees. The proposal is also projected to generate about $10,000 in revenue annually through collections from marriage license fees.

Republican Rep. Tim Kelly is one of the last GOP legislators you’d expect to find on the bad side of gay marriage advocates. The three-term member from Red Wing is well-known for bucking his own caucus in 2011 as Republicans worked to pass a controversial constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Republican Rep. Tim Kelly introduced the proposal in a Capitol news conference on Wednesday, which would add civil union language in state law next to any mention of marriage. Kelly was joined by Republican Reps. Pat Garofalo, Andrea Kieffer and Denny McNamara. Rochester DFL Rep. Kim Norton has also signed on to the bill but was not at the news conference.