Behind-the-scenes fighting over a ballot measure that would grant some legal rights and responsibilities to registered same-sex couples has heated up in the final days before Tuesday’s election.
Supporters of Referendum I said Wednesday that attack ads produced by an affiliate of Focus on the Family are misleading and false, and asked that they be pulled by broadcast outlets.
Responses to the request were mixed Thursday.
Max Brooks, sales manager for Clear Channel Communications, said an ad titled “The Price We Pay” would not run Friday on radio stations KHOW and KOA.
“We asked Focus on the Family to substantiate the claims it made in the ad, and I havent heard back from them,” he said. “So we will not run the ad Friday. It’s not scheduled to run over the weekend.”
KUSA-Channel 9 general manager Mark Cornetta declined to say he was pulling the group’s TV ad.
“We don’t discuss our business dealings with other media,” he said.
KKTV in Colorado Springs reviewed allegations by both sides and chose to continue airing the ad, said general manager Charlie Peterson.
Supporters of the referendum claimed that the Focus ad says the referendum “is all about redefining marriage to include same-sex couples.”
Attorney Mark Grueskin, representing the supporters, said the referendum is written to achieve “quite the contrary.”
Quoting the “blue book” voters guide put out by the state, Grueskin said Referendum I “specifies that domestic partnerships are not marriage” and does not change the state’s definition of marriage “… as only the union of one man and one woman.”
Jim Pfaff, co-founder of Colorado Family Action, the affiliate of Focus on the Family that produced the ads, responded, “This underhanded tactic by those ultimately seeking the redefinition of marriage in Colorado is no surprise.
“Instead of answering the substance of our ad – which outlines the social and economic cost for our state … the domestic-partner proponents are demanding our ad be withheld from voters in the last few days before the election.”
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
