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Minnesota queer realtor helps families find homes after fleeing states with anti-LBGTQ laws

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Minnesota queer realtor helps families find homes after fleeing states with anti-LBGTQ laws


Buying a home is one of the most expensive and stressful life events, especially with the current market conditions. It can be an even more emotional experience for families who are relocating to Minnesota from a state where they feel their rights are under attack.

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Mariah Hamm calls herself “your neighborhood queer realtor.” Her mission is to create inclusion in the home buying and selling process from showings to closings.

“I’m here to advocate for you. I’m here to hold a safe space for you,” Hamm said.

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Four years ago, Hamm got her real estate license with that goal in mind. She works for Quinby Partners, a queer women-owned brokerage based in St. Paul. The Wisconsin native is passionate about old homes, thrifting, and most importantly, making her clients feel seen and validated.

“Being a masculine-presenting woman, that was a goal for me to want to carve out a space that I would feel comfortable in,” she said.

Hamm said her clients will have a safe space with her, but she’s also made a network of lenders, title companies, and more who will make her clients feel safe.

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“(They will) treat them right, use their correct pronouns, deal with nuanced situations, like with dead names on paperwork and stuff like that – where they feel comfortable and supported and not just like, ‘Oh, I have to diminish myself in this experience’ instead of being celebrated in this experience,” Hamm said.

Hamm is seeing more LGBTQ+-friendly realtors. However, at a time when more states are passing laws are targeting LGBTQ+ rights, she’s also hearing increased desperation from prospective clients who can’t find a safe space.

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“It’s hard to get multiple emails from just random people that are like, ‘Hey, we have to leave. We’re not safe here,’” Hamm said.

Anton and Mike Prosser found Hamm through a Google search for queer realtors in the Twin Cities.

“I felt like another queer person was going to understand the urgency we had in leaving and was going to understand a lot of the anxieties and fears we have about moving to a new place,” Anton Prosser said.

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The couple felt abandoned by Texas, where Anton had spent his whole life. 

“I worried that our marriage would be a risk. Our health care would be at risk. Owning a home could be at risk,” said Anton Prosser.

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When Anton initially started getting health care to transition, he had a hard time accessing care.

“I had to call two dozen different doctors and every one of them said, ‘No, we won’t give you that service,’” he explained.

They had the choice to go anywhere and they picked Minnesota, in part due to its long history of welcoming immigrants and refugees. They left Texas and moved to Minnesota in September 2022. Already, they say their daily lives are astonishingly safer.

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“I used to leave the house always prepared to have some confrontation wherever I went in public, especially if I have to use a bathroom. And I’ve never had anything like that here,” Anton Prosser said.

“We went to the pride festival (at Rice Park). And it’s the first one we’ve ever been to where there were no counter-protesters at all,” Mike Prosser said.

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Sarah Johnson and Scott Blake are also Hamm’s clients. They just closed on a Minnesota home in the last month. They were activists in Omaha, Nebraska, but they watched the state and city pass laws that didn’t align with their views.

“Nebraska is taking away everyone’s rights, and Minnesota is interested in letting people have bodily autonomy, and so that was a big factor,” Johnson said.

“This is the first time for both of us that we intentionally chose a place to live,” Blake said.

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They found their dream home through the care and compassion of their realtor, who’s been there with everything from restaurant recommendations to advice on navigating a Minnesota winter.

“Being a part of the community, I think, is helpful because I’ve experienced things in my life that made me more aware of the nuances that other people might experience,” Hamm said.



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Minnesota

Some of the new laws taking effect Jan. 1 in Minnesota

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Some of the new laws taking effect Jan. 1 in Minnesota


Some of the new laws taking effect Jan. 1 in Minnesota – CBS Minnesota

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The new year signals the start of new laws taking effect in Minnesota, which will impact Minnesotans’ health, wallets and safety.

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Goalie Nicole Hensley stars as league-leading Minnesota Frost top New York Sirens in shootout | CBC Sports

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Goalie Nicole Hensley stars as league-leading Minnesota Frost top New York Sirens in shootout | CBC Sports


Nicole Hensley made back-to-back saves in the shootout and the Minnesota Frost earned their fourth straight victory with a 4-3 win over the New York Sirens on Sunday in Newark, N.J.

It was the fourth time in seven all-time meetings that a game between the teams was decided in OT and the second this season. New York won the season opener in St. Paul, Minn.

Kendall Coyne Schofield scored two first-period goals to stake the Frost to the early lead and Taylor Heise beat Kayle Osborne, who relieved starter Abigail Levy in the New York net to start the second period, two minutes in to make it a 3-0 lead.

WATCH l Heise scores shootout winner:

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Minnesota captures shootout win over New York to remain on top of PWHL standings

Taylor Heise’s fourth round shootout goal turned out to be the difference as the Minnesota Frost defeated New York Sirens 4-3 Sunday in New Jersey.

But Osborne did not allow another goal in regulation and wasn’t seriously challenged in overtime while the Sirens staged a comeback. Brooke Hobson and Elizabeth Giguere each scored in the second period and Alex Carpenter pounced on a loose puck and lifted a shot over Hensley’s shoulder from deep in the face-off circle to tie the game midway through the third period.

Hensley was brilliant in overtime, turning away four close-in, open shots by the Sirens (2-1-1-1), two of them on breakaway chances.

Minnesota (4-0-1-0) got goals from Denisa Křížová, Grace Zumwinkle and Heise in the shootout. Noora Tulus and Carpenter each converted in the shootout for New York, but Hensley came up with a save on Sarah Fillier before stopping the final two shooters for the Sirens.

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Hensley finished with 33 saves on 36 shots to earn the win. Osborne made 18 saves on 19 shots over her 45 minutes in goal for New York. Carpenter’s two-goal effort lifted her past Coyne Schofield and into the league lead with four goals in her first five games and she now has a league-leading seven points.

WATCH l Sirens’ Fillier, Carpenter test their off-ice chemistry:

New York Sirens’ Sarah Fillier, Alex Carpenter test their off-ice chemistry

Host Anastasia Bucsis puts newest teammates and linemates to the test to determine if their chemistry on the ice, translates off it.



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Unique northern Minnesota border airport closing after 70 years

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Unique northern Minnesota border airport closing after 70 years


A northern Minnesota airport with an unusual claim to fame is closing after 70 years of operation.

The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport near Roseau is the only airport with a paved runway crossing the U.S.-Canada border.

The border airport opened in 1953 to expedite customs processing for air travelers and was regularly used by hunters and anglers flying to Canada.

The Piney Pinecreek airport has the only paved runway crossing the US Canada border.

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Initially, the airport had a grass runway that ended at the border, but in 1978 a runway expansion added a paved runway that extended into Canada.

Customs agents would meet travelers on either side of the border.

But declining usage and significant impending repair costs led to the decision to close the one of a kind operation, said Ryan Gaug, director of the Minnesota Department of Transportation aeronautics office.

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“We know that the pavement condition has declined significantly over the years and will need a reconstruct most likely in the next one to three years,” said Gaug.

Short-term costs to bring the facility up to safety standards is estimated at $3.8 million.

Piney-Pinecreek is the only airport owned by MnDOT, and it is operated in collaboration with the Rural Municipality of Piney, Manitoba.

A Canadian official said the local government could not raise the money to pay its share of the planned improvement costs and Piney officials ended the joint operations agreement.

Gaug said an estimated 200 airplanes a year use the facility, far lower than traffic at similar sized facilities.

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There are six airports on the U.S.-Canada border, but Piney-Pinecreek is the only one with a paved runway.

“It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” said Gaug.

“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” he said.

concrete with black stripes

MnDOT officials said the runway at Piney Pinecreek border airport needs a costly reconstruction.

Courtesy MnDOT

There are no local airplanes based at the airport.

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“It’s very sad for the community to lose its airport,” said Marlin Elton, a local resident who served on the airport commission and helped maintain the facility for 30 years.

Elton said the closure hasn’t raised concerns in the community because “if you don’t fly, it won’t affect you. The ones who will be affected are the pilots who use it.”

Gaug said MnDOT reached out to pilots and aviation groups to gauge support for keeping the airport open but found “there just isn’t a strong user base for this airport and that also led to not a strong local support fighting to keep this airport.”

The final day of operations for the Piney-Pinecreek airport is Dec. 26.



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