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Always the fiery presenter.

Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, was just given an award in the name of another famed progressive Minnesotan, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in 2002.

I'm not seeing it in this clip, but Michelle "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann was reportedly glittered by GetEQUAL moments ago as she left the stage at the anti-gay hate conference. I'll try to find better video. [Replaced the first video, but it doesn't appear Bachmann was hit by the glitter.]

UPDATE: GetEQUAL has issued a press release.

Shortly after a speech at the RightOnline conference, pro-LGBT activist Rachel E. B. Lang approached Bachmann, threw glitter in the air, and said, “You can run, but you cannot hide! Keep your hate out of our Constitution!” — a reference to the “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide” ministry for which Bachmann has helped raise money [1] and to a proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota. The ministry, a brainchild of rabidly anti-gay Bradley Dean, charges thousands of dollars to speak at public school assemblies and evangelize young people based on a shocking and offensive anti-gay program.

(Via - Good As You)

The Saloon, Minneapolis, Thursday 11pm

After thirty minutes in line for what turned out to be "18 and over" night, I finally handed my ID to the doorman. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

JMG: I know, I'm the oldest one here. Hah.
Doorman: Naw, there's one older dude in there tonight.
JMG: (Jokingly) Great! Is he hot?
Doorman: How could he be?

And still I went in and had a pleasant time.

UPDATE: I should have noted that Saloon was just one stop on the LGBT Netroots bar crawl, otherwise I wouldn't have gone in.

The Minnesota Walk of Fame features five names. So far.

Via Minneapolis' City Pages blog:

Taylor Campione and Kelsi Culpepper -- two lesbian women from Minneapolis -- were recently scolded by a Target Field security guard for what they call a "brief kiss." After seeing the quick peck on the lips, the guard told the women that "we don't play grab ass here" and that they must "adhere to the 10 Commandments" while at the stadium. "That ruined our entire evening," says Campione. "We were super upset, we felt super uncomfortable." The security guard has since been reprimanded, but continues to work at the stadium, says Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Twins. "That behavior just is unacceptable," Smith says of the biblical put-down. "That security guard has received both a verbal and written reprimand that will be put in his personnel file, and he understands that that is not an acceptable behavior."

The couple plans to file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Today the Daily Beast reports on a 2005 incident in which Michele Bachmann called the police when lesbian activists spoke to her in a ladies room.

A few dozen people showed up at the town hall for the April 9 event, and Bachmann greeted them warmly. But when, during the question and answer session, the topic turned to same-sex marriage, Bachmann ended the meeting 20 minutes early and rushed to the bathroom. Hoping to speak to her, Arnold and another middle-aged woman, a former nun, followed her. As Bachmann washed her hands and Arnold looked on, the ex-nun tried to talk to her about theology. Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. "Help!" she screamed. "Help! I'm being held against my will!"

Arnold, who is just over 5 feet tall, was stunned, and hurried to open the door. Bachmann bolted out and fled, crying, to an SUV outside. Then she called the police, saying, according to the police report, that she was "absolutely terrified and has never been that terrorized before as she had no idea what those two women were going to do to her." The Washington County attorney, however, declined to press charges, writing in a memo, "It seems clear from the statements given by both women that they simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms. Bachmann."

As the above-linked story notes, just before Bachmann's ladies room encounter, she'd been exposed by the local press for hiding in the bushes (with a bodyguard) to observe a gay rights rally at the Minnesota capitol building.

This year's Netroots Nation is shaping up to be very different from last year's in Las Vegas.

UPDATE: Before the locals get TOO bent out of shape, here's my review of MSP from my 2005 visit for the InterPride convention.

The first familiar faces I ran into here in Minneapolis were Washington Blade staffers Chris Johnson and Phil Reese.

Target Corporation says they'll be releasing no official statement on Minnesota's coming ballot referendum to ban same-sex marriage.

"Our position at this particular time is that we are going to be neutral on that particular issue, as we would be on other social issues that have polarizing points of view," CEO Gregg Steinhafel said. "We're a retail store, we welcome everybody," he added. "We have a broad team-member base, every shape and size and color. And so we are a very inclusive organization....We're going to continue to monitor, we're going to continue to assess, and see how that develops." Minneapolis-based Target has a long record of supporting gay and lesbian causes, including offering domestic partner benefits and being a major donor to Project 515, a group working to see that gay couples are treated the same as straight couples under Minnesota law.

Anti-gay Minnesota preacher Bradlee Dean, who last week came to national prominence for his prayer before the state legislature, has been told by Walmart that his ministry may no longer solicit donations in their parking lots. Also, Dean has lost one of the Christian radio networks that ran his show.

Wal-Mart and Salem Communications have severed ties with two entities run by pastor Bradlee Dean, who made headlines last week for a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House of Representatives. David Brauer reports that AM 1280 The Patriot, owned by Christian broadcaster Salem Communications, dropped Dean’s “Sons of Liberty” radio show, and Nick Pinto writes that Wal-Mart has told Dean’s ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, that it can no longer fundraise in the parking lots of its Minnesota locations. MinnPost’s Brauer notes that Dean was fired from AM 1280 before he gave his controversial speech before the House. The station pulled Dean after he engaged in a six-minute song mocking African Americans and then likened President Obama to Osama bin Laden. “For a minister to do that made no sense,” station manager Ron Stone told MinnPost. Dean is in talks to move to Clear Channel owned KTLK, but that station says that Dean would have to make changes to his show.

According to a Walmart spokesperson, Dean had registered to solicit funds under a false name.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

"We are about to do the hardest thing that many of us have ever done in our lives.But we're up to it. We are a strong, resilient, loving people. We will replace the scorched-earth campaign tactics of our opponents with stories of the love, commitment and responsibility at the core of our families. The only thing this whole debate is about is whether people are able to have access to the things that keep all families strong ± economic, legal and civil protections. We will build an incredible coalition of allies from across the political spectrum and from every sector of Minnesota life to help us reach the hearts and minds of every Minnesota of every belief and political persuasion, across the countryside, in every hamlet, town and city." - Openly gay Minnesota state Sen. Scott Dibble, vowing to defeat the 2012 ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.

Even though he has no power to stop Minnesota's anti-gay marriage amendment from going on the 2012 ballot, Gov. Mark Dayton has symbolically vetoed the bill.

"I do not have the power to prevent this divisive and destructive constitutional amendment from appearing on the ballot, in November 2012, the Legislature sent it to me in the form of a bill," he wrote in a letter to legislative leaders. "Thus, symbolic as it my be, I am exercising my legal responsibility to either sign or veto it." He predicted the amendment will fail when it comes before Minnesotans. If that happens, Minnesota voters would be the first voters of dozens of states to reject a gay marriage ban. "The path of social progress, of human compassion and understanding, would be tragically reversed by this amendment. Minnesotans are better than this. I urge Minnesotans to reject this amendment," he wrote.

Hit the above link for a copy of Dayton's letter announcing the veto.

In a rambling book-signing speech, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura spoke at length about his support for LGBT rights. Ventura's comments were apparently spurred by an airport incident with a male TSA agent, leading the former pro wrestler to declare, "I'm not homophobic at all...but when I pass through and they touch me, I want a woman doing it."

Via the Washington Blade:

“The President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same sex couples or to take such rights away. While he believes this is an issue best addressed by the states, he also believes that committed gay couples should have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country."

"Best addressed by the states." Hmm.

A website has been already been launched to fight Minnesota's 2012 ballot referendum to install a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

"The vote Saturday night represents another in a string of stinging defeats for the gay-marriage group Human Rights Campaign and their state allies, and is further concrete evidence that the widely-reported claim that same-sex marriage is inevitable is a lie. No state in this nation has embraced same-sex marriage since 2009, and many have explicitly rejected it. In 2009, New York, New Jersey and Maine turned down gay marriage, and in 2010 voters in Iowa threw three judges off their Supreme Court who had imposed same-sex marriage. Earlier this year, Maryland and Rhode Island – two deep blue states who were said by the HRC to be likely to adopt gay marriage this year – explicitly rejected it. Now Minnesota, another liberal state, is on the path to enact a marriage amendment. We hope that the media will start to pay attention at what the American people are doing through their actions – they are rejecting same-sex marriage in droves." - NOM president Brian Brown, vowing to support the Minnesota referendum.

As I reported yesterday, late Saturday night the Minnesota House voted 70-62 to place a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the 2012 ballot. Here's a recap of the story from a local CBS affiliate.

"It's almost all bad news this week."