State Rep. John Kriesel, a freshman Republican from Cottage Grove, won't support his party's proposal for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

The Star Tribune quotes Kriesel:

"I look at it as: We are all equal. It is not right. I can't do it. I'm very upset about this vote. I don't like it. I think it sends the wrong message. You live once in your life and I've learned that the hard way."

Kriesel, in his first term, lost both his legs in a roadside bomb explosion while serving in Iraq. His book, "Still Standing," written with Jim Kosmo, has received much local acclaim.

"You never know when it is going to be your time," he said. "People fight to find happiness. ...You find someone you love and now other people are saying because I don't consider that normal, you can't do it?

"It's just wrong," Kriesel said. "There is not anything that can move me on this."

 So far, says the paper, he may be the only Republican legislator to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment, known as the gay marriage ban. The measure passed a House committee Monday, with all 10 Republican members voting in favor. All seven DFLers voted against it.

Because it's a constitutional amendment, it's not subject to a veto from DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, so if it passes the House and Senate, it would appear on the 2012 November ballot.