In August, Randi Luoto wrote a letter to the editor in which she shares a survey she conducted on job-satisfaction issues:

Results showed that gay employees, all self-identified and anonymous in the research, felt less job satisfaction and commonly yearned for two things: 1) to feel comfortable keeping a photo of their loved one on their desk, and 2) to engage more, with coworkers, in casual chitchat, such as being asked what they had done the past weekend or planned to do the next one.

In the letter, Luoto goes on to share that these are small things that most take for granted every single day. Voters in Minnesota will decide whether or not committed and loving same-sex couples should be able to celebrate their love in less than two weeks. Those small things suddenly have become really big.

Make no mistake, if this mean-spirited amendment passes, gay and lesbian citizens of Minnesota will feel “less than” their heterosexual counterparts. It’s not rhetoric or any sort of gay agenda, it’s a fact. If you vote to amend the constitution to limit my rights and freedoms, I will feel less than you.

And, like many of my friends and fellow colleagues, I will leave Minnesota. Maybe not on November 7th, but eventually we will leave. This shouldn’t be interpreted somehow has a threat to help defeat the amendment, rather, it’s a reality for many gays and lesbians (and even some allies). For my friends that have adopted children together or have gotten married in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, they don’t want to have to worry about what passing a constitutional amendment means for their rights. As someone who one day hopes to get married, I don’t want the constant reminder that I’m less than my neighbor.

Thanks to Randi Luoto for reminding us that this is not just a human rights issue, it’s also a retention and recruiting issue as well. I appreciate the fact that Mrs. Luoto is willing to stand up for my equality and the equality of Minnesotans just like me.

I love my home and I love this state. Please don’t take that away from me. On November 6, please join me in voting NO.