Dear Mr. Gutknecht

My wife apparently wrote to you expressing her opinion concerning same-sex marriage. She forwarded me your response, and I feel compelled to argue with your stand on this issue. You take the position that "the one man and one woman model... has served society well for thousands of years." I would assert that this model has not served some members of our society well at all.

This issue is very personal to me. I have friends raising children who do not meet the one-man/one-woman definition of marriage. The families are loving and the children are remarkable. Any action by my government that seeks to deny them the same rights and protections that my family is afforded offends me deeply. I find that this proposed amendment violates the sanctity of my own marriage, turning it into an elitist and arbitrary institution that is based on something other than love and joint commitment. I don’t know anything about the “activist judges” you reference in your letter, but I’m finding myself evolving from a rather passive political participant of the last 40 years into an activist citizen. I will carefully follow your actions as this bill proceeds, and I will work to either help convince you to change your position on this matter or to help elect another representative who works to protect the rights of all their citizens.

Your most sincerely,

-Qimugtua

Rochester, MN