What life experience will inform your vote on the marriage amendment?

In November 2012, Minnesota voters will be asked to decide whether to amend the Minnesota Constitution to say that "only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage" in Minnesota.

Our names are Jeff Jones and Anna Weggel and we're producers with American Public Media's Public Insight Network and we want to start a civil and honest conversation around this issue. Our hunch is that voters are more influenced by their own experience and by the stories they hear from others than by the big-budget advertising that will soon start to dominate this issue. So we're asking for your story. Leave opinion and accusations at the door and just tell the real, personal experience that guides your thinking around this issue.

If your religious faith informs your perspective, we want to know it. If your family or friends have shaped your views, let us know. Whether you support the amendment or oppose it -- or maybe you're still struggling with a decision -- your real story can be part of the conversation voters deserve to have on this issue: one that is civil and honest.

Here are a few videos we've put together so far around this topic (click the "next" button to scroll through):

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First Name *

Last Name *

E-mail *

Phone

City *

State or Province

Country *

If you had to vote on the amendment today, how would you vote?

I'd vote yes
I'd vote no
I'm not voting
I'm not sure

General opinion aside, what personal experiences from your life inform your vote on this issue?

May we publish your insights and attribute them to you? (Your comments may be edited for length or clarity.) *

Yes

Contact me first

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us. If someone on our team is interested in learning more from you, you will hear back from us soon. Send any questions or further thoughts to Jeff at jjones@americanpublicmedia.org or Anna at aweggel@americanpublicmedia.org.

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