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• Karyn Hippen, the mayor of Thompson, a town of fewer than 1,000 residents, became the first North Dakota mayor to join a national coalition of municipal leaders who support same-sex weddings. Hippen said although a large majority of voters favored the constitutional ban, she believes attitudes have changed.
• "I think at the heart of North Dakota, there's more of a general consensus of equality and fairness," Hippen said.
• Even if North Dakota doesn't get into a legal battle over gay marriage, the state's ban could be affected by the South Dakota lawsuit.
• Dale Carpenter, a constitutional law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, said Friday a broad ruling by the 8th Circuit Court on a South Dakota case could overturn North Dakota's law. He also said the issue of gay marriage is very likely to be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court, making a lawsuit in North Dakota more of a symbolic gesture.
• "It's almost a formality to file a lawsuit against North Dakota at this point," he said.
• Mara Morken Fogarty, a Minnesota resident who works on a board that provides resources to LGBT people in an area that includes Fargo, North Dakota, said it's a step worth taking.
• "What seemed doubtful just a few weeks ago seems possible now," said Morken Fogarty, who married her partner in August when same-sex marriage became legal in Minnesota.
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