The LPMN continues to reach out to the public at community fairs and events. LPMN activists at Twin Cities Pride in Minneapolis and the Tax Cut Rally in St Paul found many libertarians among predominantly liberal and conservative crowds, respectively, and have been working hard to build our movement by presenting the libertarian message directly to the public, unfiltered by the media.

The quiz results after the two-day outreach at Pride. Each orange dot represents one quiz-taker. Nearly as many scored libertarian (top quadrant) as liberal (left quadrant).

At the Twin Cites Pride festival in June, Libertarian volunteers staffed a booth for both days. A total of 314 people took the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. While many scored in the liberal quadrant, a good number of libertarians were at the festival as well (see quiz results photo). Libertarian volunteers were warmly welcomed this year. Some Pride-goers had already heard about the LPMN’s strong stand against the proposed gay marriage ban, and for the freedom of all individuals to choose their own personal relationships without government restriction. But many learned of our stance for the first time at the festival.

Our outreach at Pride was in addition to the considerable media attention we garnered from opposing the ban, and the half-page ad we ran in Scene magazine, a GLBT publication.

LPMN outreach at Pride in Minneapolis.
LPMN outreach at the Tax Cut Rally in St Paul.

Libertarians also staffed a table at the Tax Cut Rally at the state capitol in May, a half-day event. Our unwavering anti-tax stance found considerable support from a largely conservative crowd, who understand that individuals can spend their own hard-earned money much better than politicians can, and who know that bureaucratic regulations have erected difficult hurdles for small-business owners, who only want to build a better life for themselves and their communities.

In addition, the LPMN’s Rochester-based Southeast Affiliate began their own outreach in southeastern Minnesota by staffing a table at an Earth Day fair in Winona, introducing ways that market-based solutions can protect the environment better than government-based methods have. And the LPMN continues to appear at metro-area firearms shows, demonstrating that Libertarians support the freedom of peaceful, responsible individuals to own firearms for sport, collectors purposes, and self-protection.

Even more outreach events are planned. Whether an event may be liberal- or conservative-leaning, these are opportunities to introduce ourselves as the only party which consistently supports liberty on all issues, all the time. With supporters of the DFL and GOP growing increasingly upset with their parties’ betrayals and failures, we are welcoming newcomers to the libertarian movement by showing that freewill on both personal and economic issues will lead to what everyone wants: a better world!

Many thanks to those who’ve become LPMN members, whose membership funds have made this outreach possible. And additional thanks to the activists who volunteered at these events!

Concerned about the relentless expansion of government control and the erosion of individual liberty? Consider joining and becoming active in the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. Libertarians stand in support of liberty on all issues, all the time. Libertarianism is a philosophical and political movement promoting individual freedom, voluntary interaction, genuine free markets, and peace.