Lawmakers in Minnesota's House are considering several legislative bills on the subject of gay unions, Politics in Minnesota reported.

Three proposals would limit marriage to a heterosexual union by amending Minnesota's Constitution. Those bills have yet to receive a hearing in this session.

But on Monday, three pro-gay bills introduced last March were aired out in a House committee.

One measure, sponsored by Representative Joe Mullery, DFL- Minneapolis, would recognize gay and lesbian couples with civil unions. And Golden Valley Representative Ryan Winkler's bill seeks to recognize legal marriages performed outside the state.

A third bill proposes legalizing gay marriage.

Representative Phyllis Kahn, a Minneapolis Democrat and sponsor of the measure, testified on behalf of her bill.

“I just want to personally state that I think allowing other people to get married poses absolutely no threat to my marriage,” Kahn told the committee. “The legislative session is probably a little more damaging.”

Proponents of the legislation called the hearing “historic.”

“Legislators have seen that there is strong support for extending legal recognition to same-sex couples and their families by ending discrimination in marriage,” Amy Johnson, executive director of gay rights group OutFront Minnesota, said in a statement. “Minnesotans know that marriage equality next door in Canada and now Iowa is not a threat to them or their families. In fact, polls show that the majority of Americans support creation of the sorts of legal frameworks and protections for same-sex couples.”

“Today's informational hearing is a significant step towards ending this form of discrimination,” she added.

A majority of Minnesotans (61%) support giving gay couples “the same legal and economic rights and responsibilities as married couples,” according to a 2009 state fair opinion poll.

Gay marriage opponents argued that recognizing the unions of gay couples hurts children.

“Make no mistake, marriage as a civil institution, as a legal institution, is grounded not merely in religion, but in the biological reality that sex makes children and children need a mom and a dad,” Teresa Collett, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, testified.

Barb Davis, an African-American who is running for the Republican nomination in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, agreed, saying that gay sex is physically dangerous and that children have a right to a mother and a father.

“Rosa Parks didn't move to the front of the bus to support sodomy,” she said.

The committee took no action on any of the bills and has not scheduled any additional hearings.