The Southern Poverty Law Center praised the change, but said it plans to proceed with the suits it has filed on behalf of students who were subject to harassment under the policy:

Today is the first day in nearly 18 years that Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District no longer has a harmful policy that singles out lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. Although we would have preferred for the District to have repealed this stigmatizing policy without replacing it, we are pleased that the new policy expressly requires district staff to affirm the dignity and self-worth of all students, including LGBT students.

The repeal of this policy is an important first step, but the District must do much more to create a safe, welcoming, and respectful learning environment for all students, including LGBT and gender non-conforming students, and those perceived as such.

Rolling Stone magazine recently profiled the district and the trauma students have experienced, particularly losing friends to suicide. School officials called the portrayal “grossly distorted” and attempted to downplay the negative environment, refusing to take any responsibility for the impact of the “neutrality” policy. The Parents Action League, a radical group of conservative parents that promotes ex-gay therapy and calls AIDS a gay disease, continues to object to the school “caving” to the “demands of the homosexual activists.”

But there is even more troubling news for Romney. As ThinkProgress has noted, Republican turnout has been down in virtually every primary so far, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm for Romney and the rest of the GOP field. But last night’s results are far more severe. Turnout was not just down but down tremendously, and in many places, Romney was unable to capture anywhere close to as many votes as he won in 2008.

Romney won Colorado with 60 percent of the vote four years ago, and its demographics favored the candidate, but this year, Romney won just 34.9 percent of the vote, coming 6 points shy of Santorum. In Minnesota, which Romney won with 41 percent of the vote in 2008, he won just 16.9 percent last night — coming in third behind Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). And in Missouri, Romney was down slightly, from 29 percent in 2008 to 25.3 percent last night.

Looking at the vote totals, instead of percentages, which takes into account voter turnout, the numbers are even worse for Romney, as this graphic produced by ThinkProgress’ Adam Peck shows:

In some places, Romney’s collapse was even more stunning. As the New York Times’ Nate Silver noted, “Romney’s stronger areas in [Colorado] were associated with turnout declines of about 20 percent. But turnout was steady or slightly up in places where Rick Santorum did well.” For instance, in Pueblo County, where turnout was actually up, Romney took just 27 percent of the vote — a huge drop from the 62 percent he won in 2008. And in the Denver suburbs, which Romney won, he was still way down from 2008. In Douglas County, Romney went from 72 percent in 2008 to 46 percent; in Arapaho County, he went from 66 percent to 45 percent; and in Jeffferson County, he went from 65 percent to 39 percent.

Romney won comfortably in earlier primaries in Florida and Nevada, but only after drowning his competitors in millions of dollars of negative advertising. Romney’s campaign did not invest heavily in last night’s primaries, suggesting the candidate may have hard time winning on his own, without spending huge amounts to destory his competition in every state.

The results also seem to confirm the findings of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, which showed that the more people learn about Mitt Romney, the less they like him.

We tracked down the phony stock images of families that they used in their video, and we think you deserve to see the proof. Check them out:

1. Children Having Fun in Playground Together
2. Loving and Playful Family
3. Happy Bride and Groom Smiling Together
4. Happy, Smiling Family
5. A house, also found on a securities website
6. And last but not least, this couple, who are also prominently featured on a website for a hospital in India!

Watch the video:

Relying on stock images is a fairly common practice in political campaigns, but anti-gay groups who argue that the public supports their view of “traditional marriage” seem particularly drawn to fake representations of families.

“I think it underscores that sanctity of marriage is important to most Minnesotans and people who are in same-sex relationships believe in that sanctity also and want a chance to participate in the sanctity in the same way as heterosexual couples,” Dayton told MPR’s All Things Considered, before suggesting that Republicans would be hypocritical in pursuing the measure:

DAYTON: I will say, before you take out the speck in your neighbor’s eye, take the log out of your own eye. Somebody whose conduct doesn’t measure up to what they’re professing to believe in or prescribing for others, then they should be called on that.

Listen:

Yesterday, the gay community in Minnesota sent Koch a mock letter apologizing “for ruining the institution of marriage and causing her to stray from her husband and engage in an ‘inappropriate relationship.’” “On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community’s successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage,” reads the letter from John Medeiros. “We apologize that our selfish requests to marry those we love has cheapened and degraded traditional marriage so much that we caused you to stray from your own holy union for something more cheap and tawdry.”

Heavenly Father,

Through the powerful intercession of the Holy Family, grant to this local Church the many graces we need to foster, strengthen, and support faith-filled, holy marriages and holy families. May the vocation of married life, a true calling to share in your own divine and creative life, be recognized by all believers as a source of blessing and joy, and a revelation of your own divine goodness. Grant to us all the gift of courage to proclaim and defend your plan for marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of loving trust, compassion, and generosity, open to the conception of children.

We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

In October, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis called on priests to appoint special committees to “spearhead this effort at the local level” so as to prevent a “detriment to the common good of society.” The Catholic Conference is one of three arms of “Minneosta for Marriage,” the coalition advocating for the discriminatory amendment. In a joint statement, the MCC and Archdiocese proclaimed that anyone who does not support the amendment is not in “good standing” with the church, although Catholics largely support marriage equality, even at higher rates than the general public in some polls.

Fortunately, the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, has passed a resolution opposing the proposed constitutional amendment, explaining, “The Episcopal Church in Minnesota has always stood with the marginalized” and “embraced both the Gospel mandate of love of neighbor and the Baptismal Covenant imperative to respect the dignity of every human being.”

Occupy Minneapolis put its bodies in the way of an unjust foreclosure (Photo credit: OccupyMNTV)

The big banks’ worst nightmare may be coming true: occupations of foreclosed homes and eviction blockades are going viral.

Over the weekend, Occupy Minneapolis teamed up with a former homeowner to occupy her foreclosed home. Sára Kaiser, a divorced single mother who immigrated to the U.S. from Hungary to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota, bought the home with a $40,000 down payment and an adjustable rate mortgage in 2006. Monthly payments soon ballooned, and Kaiser’s $900-a-month adjunct teaching position at the university could not keep her afloat. She went into foreclosure, and says U.S. Bank, who owned her mortgage, refused to negotiate lower monthly payments with her. She and her family left the home.

After meeting up with Occupy Minnesota activists, who had successfully fought off an eviction from a foreclosed home in North Minneapolis earlier in the month, Occupy Minnesota occupied Kaiser’s former home. When Minneapolis police arrived to remove them and board up the house, 150 activists surrounded it, forming a human chain around the entire perimeter.

Two protesters were arrested during the action –- including one who can be seen in the video attempting to block a police car holding a protester arrested inside the house from leaving the scene by standing in front of the cruiser. Watch it:

After the arrests and the massive blockade, the officers left. “You guys outnumber us right now by a lot,” one can be heard saying in the video. The next day, however, police kicked in the door of the house and removed the protesters.

Various Occupy encampments throughout the country have been evicted by police in recent weeks–including the original camp in Zuccotti Park –- prompting a torrent of speculation about how the movement would advance with fewer and fewer fixed locations. Signs from around the country seem to indicate that occupying foreclosures could be that next step.

A movement to begin occupying foreclosed houses has long been nascent. Occupy movements around the country have begun lending their support to similar actions in Atlanta, Cleveland, and Harlem. Occupy Oakland voted to encourage the occupation of abandoned and foreclosed homes, and in Boston, the community organization City Life/Vida Urbana has organized eviction blockades for years.

Kaiser, for her part, described her situation in a video as something that “could happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time, unless people start fighting back together.”

“I’m not ashamed,” she stated. “I’m not the moral hazard.”

Occupy Minnesota organizer Nick Espinoza told ThinkProgress that the eviction “will not deter us” from expanding their work with families

“As we continue to fight and win,” Espinoza says, “people are coming out of the woodwork to ask for our support in standing up to the big banks. We will be seeing more home occupations soon.”

It is imperative that we marshal our resources to educate the faithful about the Church’s teachings on these matters, and to vigorously organize and support a grass roots effort to get out the vote to support the passage of this amendment.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) is one of three arms of “Minneosta for Marriage,” the coalition advocating for the discriminatory amendment. In a joint statement last month, the MCC and Archdiocese proclaimed that anyone who does not support the amendment is not in “good standing” with the church, although Catholics largely support marriage equality, even at higher rates than the general public in some polls. MCC’s executive director Jason Adkins has also already been smearing the LGBT community, inaccurately suggesting that bisexuals would pursue polygamy. Another priest from the Twin Cities area recently advocated for ex-gay therapy or lifetime chastity for people with same-sex attractions.

Given that same-sex couples cannot marry even if the amendment fails, the Catholic Church’s scare tactics and anti-gay attacks seem particularly malicious. By painting gays, lesbians, and bisexuals as a stain on society, the Church has made it clear that it is motivated not by compassion, but by power-hungry animus.

ADKINS: It’s about preserving an important institution. When you’re talking about marriage and changing the definition of marriage, you’re not creating a separate institution called same-sex marriage. You’re in fact redefining marriage for everyone. There’s little reason why you’d limit it to two people at all. What if a bisexual wants a partner of each kind, a man and a woman? Are you leaving that group out?

Besides the fact that the fight for marriage equality has nothing to do with polygamy, Adkins’ comments completely misrepresent bisexuality by suggesting it has any connection to having multiple partners. A more appropriate understanding for bisexuality would be that people who are bi have the potential for sexual and romantic relationships with more than one gender — that their attractions are not limited to just men or just women. The number of people an individual wants to have a relationship with has no connection to the number of people that individual might be attracted to.

Jason Adkins, Executive Director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference

The Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have condemned a group of Catholics resisting the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. MCC, an arm of the financial powerhouse coalition that has been pushing for the amendment, suggests Catholics for Marriage Equality MN is trying to mislead Catholics on Church doctrine:

A group calling itself “Catholics for Marriage Equality MN” seeks to confuse Catholics and the public about authentic Church teaching related to matters of marriage and sexuality. [...] The Archdiocese asks that Catholics avoid associating themselves with this group, and not be deceived by its messages, which are in conflict with the fundamental teachings of the Church. [...] “Catholics for Marriage Equality MN” attempts to convince Catholics that they can be in good standing with the Church and oppose Church teaching about human sexuality and marriage, which centers on the complementarity of the sexes and the mutual self-gift of loving spouses in marital union.

But the Catholic Church is not speaking on behalf of its membership. In fact, if supporters of marriage equality were truly not “in good standing” with the Church, the Church would lose over half its membership:

• March, 2011: 53 percent of white Catholics support marriage equality.
• March, 2011: 74 percent of Catholics favor legally recognizing same-sex relationships.
• July, 2011: 59 percent of Catholics support New York’s marriage equality law.
• August, 2010: 63 percent of Rhode Island Catholics support marriage equality.

Not only is the MCC alienating many of its own members, it is simultaneously demonstrating how anti-gay it is as well. In a separate statement, MCC spokesman Jason Adkins called for all Catholics to respect people “struggling with same-sex attraction” by calling on them to “exercise chastity.” In other words, the only way gays can redeem themselves is to completely abandon any sexual or romantic life. Now that is “loving support.”

For opponents of same-sex marriage to claim that they are the financial underdogs is completely disingenuous. It was because of their incredible spending that the legislature approved the amendment to be placed on the ballot in the first place. And the Minnesota Family Council plans to raise another $5.25 million through Focus on the Family’s “Ignite” fundraising campaign, in addition to whatever the Minnesota Catholic Conference and National Organization for Marriage contribute.

Granted, Minnesota’s LGBT groups are now supported by national organizations like Freedom To Marry and the Human Rights Campaign, so those fighting constitutionally-enshrined discrimination will have some outside support as well. Nevertheless, Minnesota for Marriage is a financial powerhouse and anything but an underdog in this long fight.