Proponents of amending Colorado’s constitution to define marriage as uniting one man and one woman officially launched a campaign Wednesday expected to feature big money, the national spotlight and carefully calculated messages from both sides.
The amendment sponsors, Coloradans for Marriage, hope to collect far more than the 68,000 petition signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot, said Bishop Phillip Porter Jr., who filed ballot language on behalf of the group.
“We come with a love of a mother, the gentle guidance of a caring father,” Porter, a prominent African-American pastor who is president of the group, said at a news conference. “We’ve come to present language that will assure the continuance of that most basic unit and the structure of our human society: marriage of one man and one woman. That’s our only goal.”
But opponents believe much more is at work. The opposition group, Coloradans for Fairness and Equality, frames the proposal as unnecessary, discriminatory against gays and lesbians, a ploy to turn out social-conservative voters and potentially harmful to the economy.
“This amendment, it’s just a terrible waste of time for Colorado voters,” said Michael Brewer of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Colorado. “This is not an issue in Colorado. Courts will not change the definition of marriage, and no one in the legislature is seeking to.”
Gay marriage is shaping up as a hot political topic this year.
Statehouse Democrats have proposed a ballot initiative that would grant gays and lesbians domestic-partner benefits. Meanwhile, a Republican senator has proposed giving same-sex couples and adult children living with elderly parents and grandparents some legal privileges afforded to married couples.
Porter said Coloradans for Marriage will not take a position on the domestic-partnership proposal, although some individual members oppose it.
Colorado law has defined marriage as between one man and one woman since 2000. Porter, however, said constitutional insurance is needed because “activist judges” could overturn it.
“I’m hoping this will help marriages,” said Ruben Mendez, an Arvada pastor, veteran of Spanish-language radio and the marriage group’s vice president. “I’m hoping this will deter divorce and will be a way for couples to look back and see the treasures we do have in America, that marriages are important.”
John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University, said choosing two minority leaders is a savvy move that speaks to broad-based support and creates some distance from Focus on the Family, which initiated the discussions that led to the coalition forming.
“There is some suspicion out there of Focus on the Family and a little discomfort with what some people view as an aggressive, run-your-life agenda,” Straayer said. “This mutes their prominence.”
The language filing comes after behind-the-scenes disagreement over the amendment’s scope. Focus on the Family eventually backed off its view that it should also bar domestic partnership, coalition members say.
“I don’t know if we’ve changed our minds on much of anything,” said Jim Pfaff, state issues representative for Focus. “The more critical factor here is the organization has coalesced around this language, and we support it.”
On both sides, money is expected to be a big factor. Coloradans for Marriage executive director Jon Paul said his group will be grassroots and rely on small individual donations.
Tim Gill, a gay software millionaire, is a prominent backer of the “no” campaign. Ted Trimpa, Gill’s political adviser, would not discuss how much Gill might spend but said he expects donations from across the country.
“This isn’t just about whether or not you think the definition of what some would call traditional marriage is in the constitution,” Trimpa said. “It’s about progressive politics and the message to the right that using the gay community for red meat, well, that time has passed.”
Trimpa points to changing attitudes in public opinion.
A poll last summer by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found 36 percent of Americans support legalizing gay marriage, up from 32 percent in 2004. For the first time, a majority of Americans – 53 percent – supported some legal recognition for same-sex couples.
The fact that Colorado’s ballot could include a marriage amendment and domestic-partnership proposal makes the dynamic different from that in other states, said John Green, a senior fellow with the Pew group.
“In a lot of states, it was vote on traditional marriage or nothing,” Green said. “In this case, there’s an alternative.”
Who is involved
Coloradans for Marriage – amendment authors
Phillip Porter Jr. (president): Pastor of All Nations Pentecostal
Center Church of God in Christ in Aurora, former board chairman of
Promise Keepers. Sat on a panel investigating the CU football
recruiting scandal.
Ruben Mendez (vice president): Associate pastor of Faith Bible
Chapel in Arvada, president of a Latino pastors’ alliance.
Mike Norton: Former U.S. attorney and husband of Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.
Group endorsements: Focus on the Family, Colorado Catholic
Conference, National Association of Evangelicals, Rocky Mountain
Family Council, Pentecostal Holiness Church, Baptist Hispanic
Churches, Hispanic Assemblies of God, Hispanic Alliance of Greater
Denver, Coalition of African-American Pastors, Church of God in
Christ.
Coloradans for Fairness and Equality – opponents
Patrice Hauptman (president): Former president of Title America,
board member and director of government affairs for The Mercury
Cos.
Tim Gill: Denver software tycoon turned philanthropist, active in
Democratic Party politics. Formed a nonprofit, the Gill Action
Fund, in part to fight these kinds of amendments.
Expected endorsements: Gay-rights groups, Colorado Clergy for
Equality in Marriage, Republicans and business leaders.
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Due to a reporting error, the print edition of Thursday’s Post incorrectly identified the wife of former U.S. Attorney Mike Norton. He is married to Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.
