ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – Jesse Ventura, the former professional wrestler, actor, and Governor of Minnesota, has added his voice to the campaign against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would define marriage in the North Star State as the union between one man and one woman.

“The constitution should not be used to oppress people,” Ventura said. “The constitution is used to protect people. Love is by far bigger than government can ever be,” he added. In a video posted last week on YouTube by Minnesotans United for All Families, Ventura and Terry, his wife of 37 years, declared their support for marriage equality, and urged Minnesotans to vote “no” in the November referendum, which poses the question, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in Minnesota?”

“Government should not be telling people who to fall in love with,” said Ventura, who served as governor from 1999 to 2003. “We’re supposed to be the home of the brave, land of the free.”

Noting the non-partisan nature of marriage equality, Ventura, 61, said, “This is not a Democrat issue, this is not a Republican issue,” and added, “It affects each and every one of us regardless of whatever our political persuasion is.”

A recent survey by Public Policy Polling shows the referendum to be a statistical dead heat, with 48 percent of Minnesota voters supporting the same-sex marriage ban, and 47 percent opposing it.