Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill on a 5-3 party-line vote after nearly three hours of discussion on Tuesday. The hearings attracted families, couples, religious leaders, children and business executives from around the state to testify for or against the bill. The bill is now ready for a likely late-session vote on the floor of the upper chamber.

The next frontier in the battle over tax increases emerged subtly, almost imperceptibly, at the tail end of a Monday evening floor session.

Minneapolis DFL lawmakers Karen Clark and Scott Dibble released the language of the bill at a Capitol news conference on Wednesday. They were joined by Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-Hopkins, who will also sponsor the bill, as well as clergy members and gay couples and their families. Republican Sen. Branden Petersen was not present, but released a statement making his support official.

Carrying rainbow flags and signs saying "Love is Love," the supporters sang and chanted "marriage equality now" on Thursday afternoon as House members entered into their scheduled floor session for the day. The headliners of the event, organized by campaign-turned-lobbying group Minnesotans United for All Families, were clergy members representing denominations and faith groups from around the state.

No matter what comes of their efforts, two Democratic lawmakers from Minneapolis know they will be accused of moving too fast.

The goal of the bill is to repeal the constitutional amendment during the 2012 legislative session to stop it from going on the fall general election ballot. Minneapolis DFL Rep. Karen Clark, who is openly gay, is the chief author of the bill in the House. Sen. Scott Dibble, who is also an openly gay lawmaker from Minneapolis, will lead on the bill in the Senate.

At least three strong DFL challengers — Jacob Frey, Cordelia Pierson and Peter Wagenius — are seeking the Minneapolis Senate seek vacated by Larry Pogemiller. The three-decade veteran legislator announced last week that he was resigning to serve as director of the state’s Office of Higher Education.

The changing demographics and DFL-friendly voting record of Senate District 46 signaled an easy win for DFL Sen.-elect Chris Eaton in Tuesday’s special election.

Nelson Inz has been making calls to DFL delegates in Minneapolis for the last four weeks. “I can’t even tell you how many people I’ve called,” Inz said.

On May 6 Richard Carlbom became engaged to his boyfriend of more than four years. Two weeks later the Minnesota House voted to place a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the 2012 ballot.