Politics & Government
Sen. Dibble 'Disappointed Doors of This Chamber Were Locked' During Same-Sex Marriage Law Signing
The law's chief author, who represents Southwest Minneapolis, said many senators who wanted to be at the ceremony on the Minnesota Capitol steps could not.
Minnesota state Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis) told the Minnesota Senate Wednesday of his disappointment that "the doors of this chamber were locked" Tuesday—preventing senators from attending the large crowd assembled on the Capitol steps for Gov. Mark Dayton's ceremonial signing of the bill Dibble introduced legalizing same-sex marriages in Minnesota.
According to The UpTake, "Republican Senators used a rarely invoked rule to lock the doors of the Senate chamber to keep members inside as they debated the bill to allow unionization among certain workers."
Related: Day Care Providers Rally as Minnesota Senate Approves Unionization Bill
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Excerpts from Dibble's remarks Wednesday night:
"I want to thank everyone on all sides of the issue for the respectful and civil tone. I know that this was for some a difficult issue and for everyone a very, very significant day. ... I think that really diminished what was really a remarkable occasion on Monday. ... I just wanted to express ... an extreme sense of disappointment at what happened yesterday."
Find out what's happening in Southwest Minneapoliswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
See the video clip of Dibble's remarks here at Patch (desktop version) or at YouTube.com.
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