President Barack Obama's campaign on Monday issued a statement in opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment which would define marriage as a heterosexual union in Minnesota.

“While the President does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the record is clear that the President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same sex couples,” Kristen Sosanie, spokeswoman for the Obama for America – Minnesota campaign, said in a statement. “That's what the Minnesota ballot initiative would do – it would single out and discriminate against committed gay and lesbian couples – and that's why the President does not support it.”

Last month, the campaign released a statement saying that the president is opposed to North Carolina's similar but farther-reaching amendment. If approved on May 8 during the state's primary, the proposed amendment would bar the state from recognizing the relationships of gay and lesbian couples with marriage, civil unions and possibly domestic partnerships.

Minnesota voters will decide on the ban in November.

Both states currently outlaw gay couples from marrying.