St. Cloud's MN House candidate discusses her long-term pro-life, anti-LGBTQ+ stances

ST. CLOUD — Minnesota House District 14B candidate Sue Ek looks to bring a Republican voice to the DFL-controlled statehouse. As the familiar face canvasses the streets of St. Cloud, constituents are reminded of her 2005 campaign, which focused on anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-life legislation.

“I don't think the Defense of Marriage Act is enough because it (opens) the door for marriages between two men done in a different state to be recognized here,” Ek said in a 2005 St. Cloud Times article. She also said, "We need to do everything we can to protect life from conception to death."

Now, nearly two decades later, the St. Cloud Times sat down with Ek to see where she stands on these issues as she seeks office yet again. While her current pitch to voters varies slightly from her 2005 run, her opinions remain consistent.

Ek’s opponent, incumbent DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott, 33, alleges her views are extreme even among pro-life and anti-LGBTQ+ advocates, and criticizes Ek for trying to bring national politics to St. Paul rather than focusing on local issues. Attacks against Ek’s stances come in part after she spoke against birth control pills and abortions on religious talk shows like "The Good Fight."

“Rather than focusing on these divisive social issues that aren’t really responding to problems in our community, we need a leader who knows the people of this district and the issues it's facing,” Wolgamott said.

However, the 61-year-old Ek told the St. Cloud Times she’s going to listen to the will of the voters, which she says appears to want abortion access. To respect these wishes while still adhering to her pro-life beliefs, Ek said she plans to provide resources for pregnant women who might want to keep their baby but might not have the funds to undergo a pregnancy.

“There's so many other options out there,” Ek said. “There's adoption and pregnancy resource centers that will help them. Sometimes it's just getting the next month's rent covered that will give pregnant women peace of mind and know that there's hope for the future.”

However, Ek wouldn’t commit to protecting these voters’ wishes if there was a Republican-led effort to repeal the state’s codification of abortion access — something Democrats fear could happen if Republicans win the Minnesota House majority.

“I would need to see the wording on that (effort to repeal) before giving a yes or no answer,” Ek said.

LGBTQ+ community deserves respect, but not marriage

The Republican candidate’s 2005 campaign also had a stance on LGBTQ+ rights, particularly opposing same-sex couples' right to marriage.

Ek in 2005 voiced concerns about Minnesota’s 1997 Defense of Marriage Act , which stated “lawful marriage may be contracted only between persons of the opposite sex.” Her opposing voice to the law alleged it didn’t go far enough, and she didn’t want same-sex couples married in other states to be recognized in Minnesota.

Now, nearly two decades and a supreme court ruling protecting same-sex marriage later, the St. Cloud Times asked Ek about her current beliefs. To which, Ek said LGBTQ+ people deserve basic respect but not marriage.

“I (still) believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Ek said. “I believe that all life should be protected, including the homosexual life.”

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While same-sex marriage is protected by the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, Ek said her political ideology regarding LGBTQ+ rights is similar to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, sometimes referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which prohibits speaking about sexual orientation or identity in kindergarten through grade 12 classrooms unless needed for mandated topics like AIDS or HIV. Ek told the St. Cloud Times her ideology is similar because she believes instruction on these topics should be up to the parent.

“I would seriously look at that type of legislation because I think it should be a family and parental issue,” Ek said. “Parents can decide whether their children are old enough to learn about that.”

She also expressed her opposition to transgender athletes competing with their identified gender during school-sponsored events. When it comes to gender identity and transition surgeries, Ek said parental involvement is essential.

Ek’s newfound interest in education

Ek’s approach to LGBTQ+ legislation in a post-Obergefell v. Hodges society takes a largely education-based approach, explaining those topics should be up to the parent.

Similarly, Ek said education is one of her main talking points this election cycle. This shift to include an education platform comes after hearing constituents' desires for increased parental involvement in curriculum offerings. She says it demonstrates her commitment to listening to the local audience, countering Wolgamott’s claims of her agenda not reflecting local concerns.

“I'm not married and haven't had kids, but I think parents should have more say in the educational process,” Ek said. “(So respecting these wishes for) more parental input at the local level makes sense to me.”

Ek said subject areas impacted by this should include history and current events. Her idea comes from believing schools need to focus on the basics like mathematics and reading.

“Through the pandemic, we've all heard that reading levels and math skills have gone down, so just getting back to the basics would be a huge accomplishment,” Ek said.

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Ek told the St. Cloud Times the teacher licensing process should also be reformed, saying a college degree in education isn’t always necessary. She said there’s plenty of professionals who’d love to teach youth but cannot because they don’t meet the K-12 licensure education requirements.

“I would love to work on a bill that would allow people who have really valuable work experience to go into the schools and teach from their experience without needing a teaching degree,” Ek said.

She said her licensing proposal wouldn’t give anybody full classroom control as she’d want these “life experience” teachers to receive guidance from those with an education-focused background when developing materials like lesson plans.

Ek is the communications director for Natural Family Planning Outreach, a Catholic organization helping women prepare for marriage and family planning. She was previously the director of operations for the Billings Ovulation Method Association and holds a journalism degree from St. Mary’s College where she was an editor for the school newspaper, The Cardinal.

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud's MN House candidate discusses her long-term pro-life, anti-LGBTQ+ stances