What’s Going On In Minnesota? Queer Twin Cities Midwest Gays

I was raised in western Pennsylvania. Central Ohio is home now. Some will say that television is a window to our lives. Others will say that television has little basis in reality. When it comes to the depictions of gay life we see on TV, I have to say that I lean toward the latter camp.

Take the former TV series “The L Word”, for example. Loved the show, really. That said, it had absolutely no resemblence to my life…none, especially after they killed off Dana. My humble opinion is that more than half of all lesbians outside of L.A. and NYC would agree. Far more than half of my generation (over 40) would absolutely agree. The latest show, “The Real L Word (Season 1)” was almost as far fetched. Season 2 has proven to be beyond rediculous and I gave up watching that show all together. While we saw a more diverse range of couples In season 1 than on the make-believe L Word, it was obvious that all of them lived a very L.A. lifestyle. It’s equally obvious that most of the more “adult” cast that the majority of us could kinda/sorta identify with were not happy with the direction of the show and how it depicted their lives, thus they didn’t sign on for Season 2. Now we get Witney and a bunch of her friends. I met Witney in person when a small part of the cast toured.  I liked her well enough but her life and her choices do not reflect me.

That brings me to Minnesota. Crazy segue…or lack of one, huh? Gays and lesbians in that state are not unlike gays and lesbians in Ohio. We’re all living a world away from our brothers and sisters on the two coasts but, reality is that we want a lot of the same things. I don’t know why the Minnesota legislature has decided to go in completely the opposite direction with rights for their LGBT citizens as much of the rest of the nation is headed. It feels like they think they need to make a stand because they didn’t a couple of years or so ago when other states decided to grant certain rights or forbid them. That’s my take on it, anyway.

Minnesota’s actions make no sense given the rich history of queer contributions in the state and given the general spirit of its residents. The Minneapolis and St. Paul areas, for example, are alive with gay culture. But, more than that, they’re vital and thriving in a lot of ways because of queer influence.

Published in September of 2010, Queer Twin Cities, authored by the Twin Cities GLBT Oral History Project, captures much of the history of gay and lesbian Minnesota. It’s a fascinating answer to the current political climate in the state and well worth a read no matter where you live if you want to understand how GLBT live outside the lines of cable television.