Governor Mark Dayton told a crowd of gay marriage supporters that he had a dream that Minnesota would become the first state in the nation to reject a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Dayton was the main attraction during Thursday's lobby day at the state capitol.

“Any American should be able to love the person he or she loves,” Dayton told the crowd. “And that should be a right protected by the Minnesota Constitution and by the United States Constitution.”

Dayton described the upcoming campaign on the fall ballot measure as “divisive” and most likely “vicious.”

“It's just going to be so destructive,” he said.

“But I had a dream over the weekend. And we'll see how prophetic my dream is. I dreamt that … Minnesota would be the first state in the nation to reject this kind of measure,” he told a cheering crowd. “I think Minnesota's better than that.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)

The rally, organized by OutFront Minnesota and Minnesotans United for All Families, was part of the campaign to defeat the amendment. Other speakers included state Senator Scott Dibble and Monica Meyer, executive director of OutFront Minnesota.

(Related: Minnesota voters divided on gay marriage ban.)