Dayton to attend major GLBT conference in Los Angeles
Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to attend a private conference this weekend that features high dollar donors to advance rights of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.
Dayton’s campaign manager, Katharine Tinucci, says Dayton will attend the biannual OutGiving Conference, organized by the Gill Action Fund.
Tinucci says Dayton and his running mate, Tina Smith, will travel to Los Angeles on Thursday. Dayton is scheduled to speak at a luncheon the next day.
The Washington Blade reports that this year’s conference will focus on “Winning the Heartland.” Dayton and the DFL-controlled Legislature won praise across the country for being the first state in the Upper Midwest to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislative process.
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Tinucci says Dayton will not be raising money at the conference but noted he will be networking with wealthy donors who agree with his views on same-sex marriage.
The Gill Action Fund is organized by Colorado software entrepreneur Tim Gill, who helps raise money for candidates and causes that support same-sex marriage.
Gill’s fund also has close ties to Richard Carlbom, the architect of the effort to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota in 2012. Carlbom was also instrumental in lobbying the legislature to legalize same-sex marriage last year.
My colleague, Catharine Richert, recently wrote about the Gill Action Fund’s efforts in 2013.