Office of Mayor R.T. Rybak

Media Advisory

Contact: John Stiles, Communications Director, (612) 673-3665 office, (612) 581-1788 mobile

Contact: Kristen Montag, Meet Minneapolis, (612) 767-8038 office, (651) 335-5754 mobile

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Minneapolis City Goals: A Safe Place to Call Home ú Jobs & Economic Vitality ú Eco-Focused ú Livable Communities, Healthy Lives ú Many People, One Minneapolis ú A City That Works

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5: Minneapolis Mayor Rybak to Invite Same-Sex Chicago Couples to Marry in Minneapolis

WHAT: The Mayor of Minneapolis, R.T. Rybak, will unveil a new print and digital ad campaign that will run in Chicago-area publications that invites same-sex couples from Chicago to travel to Minneapolis to get legally married.

Until the Illinois Legislature enacts the right for same-sex Chicago couples to legally marry, Mayor Rybak will be actively inviting gay and lesbian Chicagoans to make the short trip to Minneapolis to marry, where marriage equality has been in effect since August 1. Minneapolis, City by Nature, is a supportive, welcoming city with hundreds of friendly vendors who are waiting to help gay and lesbian Chicagoans put together the wedding of their dreams.

WHEN: Thursday, September 5, 2013, 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: Center on Halsted, the largest, most comprehensive LGBTQ community center in the Midwest.

3656 N. Halsted St.

Chicago IL 60613

MORE: Beginning at the stroke of midnight on August 1 and until almost 7:00 a.m. that morning, Mayor Rybak personally performed 46 same-sex weddings in the Rotunda of Minneapolis City Hall, an event that was two months in the planning. Photo essays of that extensively-covered historic night are here and here, with background on how it came to be here.

Mayor Rybak is a long-standing advocate for the freedom for all couples to marry and was a leader in the fight to enact marriage equality in Minnesota. He strongly encourages the Legislature and Governor Quinn to pass marriage equality in Illinois but until they do, he wants same-sex Chicago and Illinois couples to marry in Minneapolis.

The ad campaign is in partnership with Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association.

Mayor R.T. Rybak, who was overwhelmingly elected to three terms as mayor of Minneapolis, is currently completing his 12^th year in office and is not running for reelection in 2013.