MANKATO, Minn. (WCCO) – The City of Mankato became the latest city council to formally vote on the proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

The Mankato City Council voted 4-1 Monday night, with two abstaining, to oppose the amendment that would not allow same-sex couples in Minnesota the freedom to marry. Mankato is now one of 12 Minnesota cities to publicly oppose the amendment that will appear on the November ballot.

Mankato became the second-largest non-metro city and the first southern Minnesota city to oppose the amendment, according to city officials.

Upon learning of the vote in Mankato, the group Minnesotans United for All Families released the following statement.

“In the face of increasingly misleading and negative tactics from those seeking to pass the marriage amendment and limit the freedom to marry in Minnesota, the decision of the Mankato City Council to oppose the amendment is exciting news. We applaud them for taking this bold and important stance – each time a city, business or community of faith weighs in on this debate, it sparks even more conversations about what marriage means and who should have the freedom to participate in it,” the statement reads.