The proposed Minnesota laws legalizing marriage equality went before committees yesterday. Former president of Minnesota Atheists, August Berkshire, was there to make the case for marriage equality as a question of church-state separation. The UpTake, which does an amazing job getting footage of local news out, has all the testimony. August spoke to the House Civil Law Committee at their evening hearing. (Sorry, not an embeddable video.) His testimony starts at about 22:30.

It’s a statement of principle, which may not be as affecting as many of the stories told at the hearings, but it beats the hell out of the nonsense Katherine Kersten trotted out for the occasion.

I rather hope she’s feeling sour today. The votes are what is important, and they didn’t go her way:

Tuesday afternoon Minnesota’s Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage by a 5-3 vote. The House Civil Law Committee approved a similar bill Tuesday evening 10-7.

Now it’s time for those of us in Minnesota to call or write our state senators and representatives to tell them how we want them to vote. Yes, even me, even though my state rep was one of the people testifying in favor. We need to make our legislators feel safe doing the right thing. Showing them they have the numbers behind them now, not just a few years down the road after they’ve lost their re-election bids, is the way to do that.

One step closer.