David Scott Dibble (born August 27, 1965) is an American politician serving as a member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

since 2003. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

(DFL), Dibble represents District 61, which includes parts of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

. From 2001 to 2003, he served in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

. Dibble was the first openly gay man to run for and be elected to the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...

without previously having held a seat in it.

Early life and education

Dibble was born in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. The child of a member of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, he moved often as a child before settling in Minnesota and graduating from Apple Valley High School. Dibble attended both the University of St. Thomas in

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. In 2002, he completed a fellowship at the University of Minnesota's

Humphrey School of Public Affairs The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Huber ...

Early activism and career

Dibble first became involved in politics in the mid-1980s, working on civil rights issues for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities, including advocacy for those with HIV/AIDS. He was an activist and organizer for "It's Time, Minnesota", a statewide LGBT rights organization that helped pass the 1993 Minnesota Human Rights Act. This led to organizing on issues of social and economic justice, especially in the areas of neighborhood livability, transportation, housing, energy and the environment. Dibble worked in information technology support for Investors Diversified Services (now

Ameriprise Financial Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is an American diversified financial services company and bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It provides financial planning products and services, including wealth management, asset management, insur ...

) and later as a community organizer. He was an aide to

Minneapolis City Council The Minneapolis City Council is the Legislature, legislative branch of the city of Minneapolis in Minnesota, United States. Comprising 13 members, the council holds the authority to create and modify laws, policies, and ordinances that govern the ...

Member Doré Mead from 1994 to 2000.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Dibble was elected to the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and served one term, representing District 60B. He served on the Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs, Transportation Policy, and Ways and Means committees.

Minnesota Senate

Dibble was elected to the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and reelected in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. He first ran in 2002 after incumbent Myron Orfield announced his retirement. Dibble has served as chair of the Transportation Finance and Policy Committee since 2023. He also sits on the Capital Investment, the Energy, Utilities, and Climate, and the Taxes Committees. From 2013 to 2017, Dibble chaired the Transportation and Public Safety Committee. He chaired the Transit Subdivision of the Transportation Budget and Policy Division from 2007 to 2011, and the Housing Division of the Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee from 2003 to 2007.

Political positions

Same-sex marriage

After his leadership in the campaign against the constitutional amendment to ban

same-sex marriage in Minnesota Same-sex marriage has been fully recognized in the U.S. state of Minnesota since August 1, 2013. Same-sex marriages have been recognized if performed in other jurisdictions since July 1, 2013, and the state began issuing marriage licenses to sam ...

, Dibble, Representative Karen Clark, and several other legislators proposed an amendment during the 2013 legislative session to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill passed and same-sex marriage became legal on August 1, 2013.

The environment

Dibble has served as chief author or as a lead negotiator on energy efficiency standards, implementing a renewable energy standard, establishing a carbon dioxide reduction mandate, instituting the nation's most stringent mercury emission reduction requirements for coal-fired energy, the first legislation in the country on hybrid plug in electric cars, and programs to aid the construction of green buildings and assist local governments in building more energy-efficient facilities. He helped author and served on the Green Jobs Task Force charged with developing a comprehensive economic development policy to shape Minnesota's participation in the

green economy A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without environmental degradation, degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological econ ...

Medical cannabis

In 2014, Dibble was the chief author of a bill that allowed limited use of

medical cannabis Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...

for patients who have debilitating or terminal illnesses. He has also worked to legalize cannabis for recreational use.

Transportation

Dibble continues to be the DFL leader in the Minnesota Senate on legislation relating to transportation and transit, energy efficiency, the environment, housing and economic development.

Personal life

Dibble is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. He married his husband, Richard Leyva, in California before the passage of

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned by the ...

. In November 2019, Dibble announced that a man whom Dibble had had an extramarital relationship with had allegedly attempted to blackmail him through

revenge porn Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...

Dibble is a runner and has completed several marathons.

References

External links

Senator Scott Dibble
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Minnesota Public Radio Vote Tracker: Sen. D. Scott Dibble ProfileSenator Scott Dibble
''official campaign website''
Instagram
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dibble, Scott Living people 1965 births American gay politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Minnesota People from Hennepin County, Minnesota Politicians from Minneapolis Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party Minnesota state senators University of Minnesota alumni 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature Apple Valley High School (Minnesota) alumni