LGBTQ Activism & Rights in Minnesota: Newspapers

Newspapers:

• GLC Voice
• FocusPoint
• Equal Time (Minneapolis)
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune 
• St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch
• Duluth News Tribune
• Fargo Forum (Fargo-Moorhead area daily)
• St. Cloud Times

Dates:

• May 18, 1970: Jack Baker and Michael McConnell apply for--and are denied--a marriage license by Hennepin County clerk, leading to Minnesota Supreme Court case Baker vs. Nelson.  
• June 24, 1972: March on Nicollet Mall (Minneapolis) marks first Twin Cities Pride Parade.  
• October 10, 1972: US Supreme Court dismissed the Baker v. Nelson appeal (heard on mandatory appellate review), establishing it as a precedent for denying same-sex couples the right to marry 
• December 9, 1974: Minneapolis City Council passes law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.  
• July 3, 1979: Police remove gay rights demonstrators from Minneapolis City Hall. (Protest was about arrests of bathhouse patrons made by allegedly-drunk police)   
• April and May 1982: Gay Pride Committee was in court challenging Minneapolis' block parties rules.  On May 21 judge rules that the ordinance is legal.
• February 1986: Minneapolis City Council member Brian Coyle calls emergency meeting to address Minneapolis gay murder wave--30 gay men slain in the Twin Cities in the previous 2 years.  
• July 15-18, 1988: NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt displayed at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome as part of a national tour.  
• June 1990: St. Paul City Council passes ordinance banning discrimination against homosexuals in employment, housing, education, and public services.  
• July 1990: Minneapolis Mayor Don Fraser joins demonstration of 300 people at City Hall to urge officials to recognize the relationships of homosexual city employees.  
• April 2, 1993: Minnesota Human Rights Act is amended to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and public services based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.  
• May 14, 2013: Governor Mark Dayton signs HF1054 into law, making Minnesota's marriage law gender-neutral.  
• August 1, 2013: Minnesota's marriage equality law goes into effect.  
• June 26, 2015: Supreme Court decides Obergefell v. Hodges, which overturns Baker v. Nelson and requires all states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

The Minnesota Historical Society holds the world's largest collection of Minnesota newspapers, with dates ranging from 1849 to the present day.

Past issues of most newspaper titles are available on microfilm in the MNHS library, but there is also digital access to select newspapers. 

Use the links to the left to search for newspapers available at MNHS and to search within digitized newspaper collections.   

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