ST. PAUL, Minn. — A former Minnesota state lawmaker on Tuesday said she has always regretted her vote for a constitutional amendment that would have limited marriage to one man and one woman.
Lynn Osterman, of New Hope, was a Republican when she served her only term in the Minnesota House. She choked up as she testified Tuesday before a House committee hearing a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota, saying she cast a “politically expedient” vote for an amendment to bay gay marriage when one reached the House floor in 2004.
Osterman told the representatives voting no on this bill might seem politically expedient now, but they’d have to live with the knowledge that their vote wasn’t fair, respectful or equal. She says she blew her vote, and implored them to get this one right.
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The Minnesota state legislature on Tuesday began formal consideration of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Votes in House and Senate committees were expected later in the day, but final legislative action could still be months away as lawmakers deal with the state budget first.
