Same-sex marriage in Minnesota

Same-sex marriage is fully legal and recognized in Minnesota. It has been recognized if performed in other jurisdictions since July 1, 2013, and the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on August 1, 2013. After 52.6% of state voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in November 2012, the Minnesota Legislature passed a same-sex marriage bill in May 2013, which Governor Mark Dayton signed on May 14, 2013. Minnesota was the second state in the Midwest, after Iowa, to legalize marriage between same-sex couples and the first in the region to do so by enacting legislation rather than by court order. Minnesota was the first state to reject a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, though Arizona rejected one in 2006 that banned all legal recognition and later approved one banning only marriage.

Minnesota is also where one of the first same-sex marriage cases in the world took place. In Baker v. Nelson the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously held in 1972 that it did not violate the constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case on appeal.

Baker v. Nelson was the first case in United States history in which a same-sex couple sued over marriage rights. In 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Minnesota's laws prohibited marriages between same-sex partners and did not violate the federal constitution. On October 10, 1972, the Supreme Court, declining to hear the case on appeal, issued a one-sentence order that said: "The appeal is dismissed for want of a substantial federal question."

Responding to the State Supreme Court ruling, in June 1972, at the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) State Convention, delegates voted to add a plank to the party platform supporting same-sex marriage rights. This is the first known case of support by a major United States political party for same-sex marriage, though it is worth noting that many DFL state representatives disassociated themselves from the plank and the DFL party rules subsequently changed to make amendments to the party platform much harder to achieve for future conventions.

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