Minnesota High Court Rules Al Franken As Winner of U.S. Senate Seat; Opponent Concedes

Al Franken, longtime friend to the LGBT population, was declared winner of the long-contested seat for the Minnesota U.S. Senate. Today, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that he had in fact won the race.

Fear that his opponent, Republican incumbent and long-time ally of the former Bush administration, Norm Coleman would continue to fight for the job ended when he announced that he would be conceding. "It's time for Minnesota to come together under the leaders it has chosen and move forward," he said. Read his full statement.



Michael Jones at Change.org gives "Five Reasons Why Senator Al Franken is a Good Thing for LGBT Rights" including that Al Franken will vote for LGBT rights legislation and that, being a Democrat, he will now give the Democratic party a solid 60 seat filibuster-free majority in the U.S. Senate.

Whether or not this will encourage Obama to show a little more bravery when it comes to LGBT issues remains to be seen. Obama's fear of falling flat on his face like Clinton, though unfounded, may not disappear since not all Democrats are for LGBT equality.

But we should take heart that such a staunch ally is now in our corner in Congress.