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Atkinson of nevada, who came out last month on the floor of the state senate, and rachael staszenberger. and if anybody recognizes that last name, the granddaughter of a luminary, harold staszen. rachael, you've been covering this, it is amazing, it's a two-area story that started in may of 2011 with republicans in the state legislature there, kind of looking at what the republican national playbook was last decade, which was put these anti-gay marriage things on the ballot, watch the conservatives come out, and win and get elected with them. they put it on the ballot in november of 2012 and s...

Daughter whose mom is very involved and has a father, myself, who is very involved. so she still has her mom and her dad. so that's a blown out argument that's kind of old. >> plus, the argument that she made marriage is only to have kids, versus it's a commitment to consenting adults and to a loving relationship and to commit to one another. there are a lot of arguments about, they're not going to have kids, they can't get married. that makes no sense at all. >> but i think to some extent, the people who are against the marriage amendment, they say, look, in minnesota, we're not ready for thi...

Republican votes is very hard fought and hard won. as you know, for some republicans saying any support for same-sex marriage is political suicide. in minnesota, we see that there were four votes for it, by thoughtful republicans. there were two democratic votes against it in the house. we actually have a republican co-author in the minnesota senate from a conservative district, who says, in part, this is sort of a libertarian belief. you know, let's let this happen, it's about freedom. so i think that that debate is still ongoing. and we saw it even in minnesota, something that would have bee...

Minnesotas supporting it. and republicans paid an even larger political price. in that same election, they lost control of both houses of the state legislature to democrats. almost immediately, marriage equality advocates began lining up support. in february, state representative karen clark officially introduced the marriage equality bill, pointing directly to the amendment's defeat as a factor. >> we had a trial run with the constitutional amendment and the people of minnesota spoke loudly and clearly, and i think my conversation with legislators indicate that many of them are paying attenti...

Gay marriage in minnesota. and we talk about how the sort of political winds your shifting in the 18 months from when they proposed it to the election. this is one of the messages they went with. this is an ad where they sort of acknowledged the basic popularity of standing up for gay rights and still tried to couch it into an anti-gay marriage message. and this is what they put on the air. >> in my life, i've learned to be open and kind to all people. >> everybody knows somebody who's gay. >> gay or straight, we're all sbi entitled to love and respect. >> but we can support gays and lesbians ...