Growing up, I had three moms and one dad. I spent almost as much time at the red house down the block with Mama Mindy and Mama Rachel as I did my own. They had two daughters, the same age as my sister and I. We spent hours playing Barbie’s together, being called up for dinner, and going back to our town of Barbie’s in the basement. I always assumed Mindy and Rachel were married, just like my mom and dad. It wasn’t until years later that I found out Mindy and Rachel weren’t allowed to be married.

The Minnesota House and Senate passed a bill proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution to take this discrimination to a new level. The House and Senate want to make marriage only legal between one man and one woman.  In November, the happiness of Minnesotans will be put into the hands of people that hardly know them.

The amendment is flat out wrong. The government should not institutionalize discrimination. They have no right to decide who you can marry.

45 years ago, states were struggling with a parallel issue to what they are struggling with now. Several states prohibited inter-racial marriage. What seems incomprehensible to us now, was legal then.

45 years from now, or hopefully sooner, we should be thinking the same thing about gay marriage. We should be looking back thinking how ridiculous it was, that the government even considered prohibiting gay marriage.

People argue that gay marriage is ruining the “idea” of marriage. And yet, 50% of all opposite-sex marriages end in divorce, according to divorcerate.org. Every year, 4 million women are abused by their husbands, as reported by now.org. There are clearly bigger issues in the “idea” of marriage then gay people getting married.

There is a perception of Minnesota of being an open and welcoming place. Minnesota had the first church that voted gay and lesbian pastors, and Minneapolis was voted the most gay friendly place to live in the USA. By amending the Constitution, the atmosphere of Minnesota will change. This discriminatory act will completely contradict “Minnesota Nice.”

Not only is amending the Minnesota Constitution discriminatory, it is also hurtful.

Researched estimate that a total of six to fourteen million children in the United States are living with at least one gay parent. Lillie Benowitz is one such example.

“I can get married, and they can’t,” says junior Lillie Benowitz, whose parents are lesbian. “They’ve been together for over thirty years, and I can find someone tomorrow and get married to them the day after.” Benowitz’s family also doesn’t have the same benefits that married couples have, like the fact that they have to pay for two health insurance’s, instead of being on the same plan. “The money we’ve spent on health insurance could have paid for our college and then some.”

It’s hard to comprehend why anyone would want to make gay marriage against the law. Maybe they didn’t grow up playing Barbie’s in a Lesbian couple’s basement. Maybe they just don’t know many gay people. Because if they had, they wouldn’t be attempting to amend the Minnesota Constitution to discriminate against gay couples.