If The Marriage Amendment Passes...

Today, I watched two television advertisements that were launched by Minnesota For Marriage, the campaign that supports the passage of  the constitutional amendment that would forever preclude so many people from entering into the bond of legal marriage.  I had an actual physiological reaction.  My whole body felt cold, my palms were sweaty, and I could feel my heart pounding.   I also felt very emotionally confused. I couldn't quite define my feeling as anger, or sadness, or extreme worry.... it was more like a combination of all of all of these. 

Ever since this issue became a ballot measure, most of us have been feeling very positively about how it will turn out.  Almost all of our peers are voting no.  You can hardly throw a rock in our city without hitting an orange Vote No lawn sign.  Hundreds of faith organizations have stood up against the amendment.  There have been fundraising and awareness-raising events nearly every day lately.  The momentum has been growing and growing, and there's an undercurrent of hope and positivity.

But we live in a bubble, and that bubble does not represent our entire state.  And the reality is that we are behind in the polls.  If the election was today, we would lose.  And these hurtful advertisements are not going to help.

I recently read an article written by a Minnesotan woman who was asked how she would feel if the marriage amendment passes next month.  She had some very eloquent things to say about what that outcome would (and would NOT) do to her family.  And that prompted me to think about my own response to that question.

I don't really know how anyone who has been invested in this fight can be fully prepared for the possibility that we will lose.  I do know that I will feel disappointed in my fellow Minnesotans, and I will feel disappointed in myself for not doing enough. 

The outcome of the election won't affect my own marriage, so it could be said that I would not be "personally harmed" if it passes.  And that's true, sort of.  I'm not pretending to know first-hand what it feels like to be systematically discriminated against.   I'm not pretending to be impacted in the same profound way that thousands of other Minnesotans would.

But I know what this means to the people who would be personally harmed.  Most are strangers.  Some are colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances, former classmates.  A lot are friends.  A few are people I love with all my heart.   For all of these people, the passage of the amendment would mean that a majority of Minnesota voters think that their relationships shouldn't be legally validated.  That their families are somehow less than mine.

I don't understand the arguments presented by the opposition.  I don't understand why anyone would want to write discrimination into the constitution, or especially why anyone, regardless of their stance on the issue, considers the amendment necessary given the current state and federal laws which already prohibit legal same-sex marriage. 

It is an uphill battle, but I'm still hopeful that Minnesotans will stand up for what is right and will be the first state to vote down this proposed amendment.  But this won't happen simply by "hoping".  Please join me in donating and volunteering in whatever capacity you can. www.mnunited.org.