Dissent Submitted Over MN Lawmaker's 'White Male' Comment

SAINT PAUL, MN — DFL House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park, has submitted a two-page protest and dissent Tuesday in response to a protest and dissent published in the April 7 House Journal and signed by nearly 50 Republican House members.

At issue are remarks made by Hortman during floor debate earlier this month: "I hate to break up the 100 percent white male card game in the retiring room, but I think this is an important debate," Hortman said.

Hortman, who is white, went on to say that several female lawmakers had given exceptional speeches while other lawmakers were in the retiring room.

"I’m a white male. I respect everybody," said Rep. Bob Dettmer, a Republican, responding to Hortman. "But I really believe the comments made by the minority leader were really not appropriate. Minority leader, would you apologize to the body?"

Minnesota Lawmakers Clash Over 'White Male' Comment [Video]

Hortman refused to apologize on the House floor, and later, in an April 7 statement, said she is "still not sorry." Supporters rallied in her support at the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday morning.

Rep. Jon Applebaum, of Minnetonka, and Rep. Rena Moran, of Saint Paul, also signed Hortman’s protest and dissent.

"The race and gender of the speakers were relevant to the debate," the dissent reads. "The gender and identity of a group of some members who were missing the speeches was relevant, too, because those members had the most to learn from the point of view shared by Representatives Becker-Finn, Moran, Allen, Flanagan, Omar, Maye Quade, and Kunesh-Podein."

"Protest and Dissent"

Article IV, Section 11 of the Minnesota Constitution provides for legislators’ protest and dissent: “Two or more members of either house may dissent and protest against any act or resolution which they think injurious to the public or to any individual and have the reason of their dissent entered in the journal.”

Read the full letter below:

Protest and Dissent by Patch Minnesota on Scribd

Image via Minnesota House of Representatives