In Minnesota, a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is going to appear on the 2012 ballot, where it will likely become a big focus of activism this election on both sides.

For the first time since Gallup has been polling the issue the pollster has found a clear majority of Americans now favor a law recognizing same-sex marriage.

Check out this list of the top 10 MyFDL diaries from 2010 (based on pageviews). Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our fantastic community of writers. We look forward to reading your work in 2011.

What were your favorite myFDL diaries from last year? Share your picks in the comments!

Ken Mehlman left the gay closet earlier this week, asking for understanding if not support from the glbt community. That would be easier to find if Mehlman demonstrated a bit of understanding of that community and the toll that the Bush White House and RNC took on it while Mehlman was working there. No matter how much he did in his Off-The-Record political closet, it’s going to be hard to overcome what happened on the record.

In the 19th Century the Republicans passed three Constitutional Amendments that are their greatest legislative legacy — naturally, modern Republicans want to undue them — and preserve the Bush tax cuts.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote movingly and powerfully about the wave of anti-gay hate that is sweeping his continent of Africa. His words, though, bring to mind the very same attitudes in many of our American religious and political leaders. If only there was an American Nobel Peace Prize laureate who spoke like Tutu. Wait — there is. If only there were two.

Glenn Beck’s rant last week wasn’t an attack on Christians in general, but part of a conversation between Roman Catholic bishops and their potential political allies in evangelical and LDS circles, saying “If you want to ally yourself with the LDS and evangelicals, you better clean up your own house first and deal with all those lefty peace-and-justice priests. We don’t need allies like that.”

The District of Columbia will become the latest region of the country to legalize same-sex marriage when they begin to grant licenses on Thursday. Today, the Supreme Court, in a three-page ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts, declined to intervene in the legislative action that passed the DC City Council earlier this year. Petitioners sought a public referendum on same-sex marriage before the law went into effect, but Roberts refused to stay the enactment of the law.

Evangelicals like Chuck Colson, Roman Catholics like Archbishop Donald Wuerl, and the other religious leaders who signed the “Manhattan Declaration” don’t seem to understand that justifying discrimination in the name of religious freedom is not a good idea.

OMG! Elton John, you’re breaking my heart. And getting used by Yes-on-8 fund raisers in the aftermath of the passage of ballot initiative that eliminated same-sex marriage in California. In an interview with USA Today the openly gay icon–who united with partner David Furness in a 2005 English civil ceremony– said: