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An exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul entitled “Happily Ever After” came under criticism for promoting acceptance of same sex marriage.
“I believe it’s inappropriate for the Historical Society, a taxpayer subsidized public organization, to send the message to the people of Minnesota that same sex marriage is fine and merely the next step in the redefinition of marriage,” said Tom Prichard, President of the Minnesota Family Council. The exhibit contains wedding dresses and pictures of married couples from different periods in Minnesota’s history. One of the pictures contains a picture of a same sex couple decked out in suits and wearing corsages. The Society said it wasn’t endorsing same sex marriage just presenting the issue. (See attached photograph.) “While the Society says they aren’t endorsing same sex marriage because of ambiguous language accompanying the enormous picture, the overall focus of the exhibit and the pictures viewed by children and others give the clear impression that same sex marriage is merely another form of marriage,” added Prichard. “The Historical Society is clearly out of line with this exhibit. The Society plays an important role in Minnesota, but it shouldn’t be compromising its credibility as a nonpartisan organization in the state by advocating in favor of same sex marriage,” continued Prichard. In response to the exhibit a group of state legislators led by Representative Paul Gazelka sent a letter to The Society criticizing the exhibit. Their letter said in part, “So why does one of Minnesota’s most distinguished museums, funded in part by our taxes, show two homosexual men as the last photo in its display on the progression of marriage? When we ask the question, ‘who is most likely to go to the museum,’ the answer is ‘our children’…. It promotes the idea that homosexual relationships are marriage when they are not.” Prichard said the Society should take note, because the legislative signers of the letter constitute a majority of the members of the House committee that deals with Historical Society appropriations. In recent years, state tax dollars constituted over two-third’s of the Historical Society’s annual budget. For FY ’06 - ’07, the Historical Society is due to receive $45.3 million from the state. |
The Minnesota Family Council is Minnesota's largest nonprofit, non-partisan pro-family organization.
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2855 Anthony Lane South, Minneapolis MN, 55418-3265
phone 612.789.8811, fax 612.789.8858, www.mfc.org