Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Here comes the money

Ballot measures on gay relationships bring out donations

Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 6, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

More Airlines & Aerospace

More stories »

Money is pouring in early to opposing campaigns for statewide ballot measures related to gay relationships.

Gay philanthropist Tim Gill and evangelical powerhouse Focus on the Family have made sizable donations to their causes.

The pro-gay camp, Coloradans for Fairness and Equality, has raised more than twice that of its opponents, taking in $229,618 since January, according to campaign reports filed with the Colorado secretary of state.

The Gill Action Fund, Gill's political spending arm, has given $179,000 to that campaign, including a $50,000 donation May 10. Gill Action gave $55,000 on March 8 and $74,000 on April 25, records show.

Meanwhile, the coalition of Christian groups sponsoring a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union has raised $101,628 in the past six months. The U.S. Senate this week is debating a similar measure that would apply nationwide.

Focus on the Family, a member of Coloradans for Marriage, has given $55,000 to the Colorado campaign, including a $20,000 donation May 22.

New Life Church, led by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who also heads the National Association of Evangelicals, has given $12,000 to that campaign.

Both sides describe the funds raised so far as "seed money" that has enabled them to establish the infrastructure of their campaigns. Much larger donations are expected in the fall, when the groups ramp up efforts to garner public support on this socially divisive issue.

The pro-gay group is trying to raise $10 million to support the domestic partnership initiative and defeat the marriage amendment, according to fundraiser Joe Barrows.

Coloradans for Marriage and a group pushing another initiative that seeks to deny recognition of domestic partnerships say they plan to raise much smaller amounts.

Sean Duffy, communications director for the pro-gay group, said the money from Gill has allowed the campaign to get a "fast start."

"I would argue it is more important on a tough complicated issue to get a fast start, rather than waiting until July, August or September to get your ducks in a row," Duffy said.

Duffy's group has spent most of its money on salaries for about a dozen full-time staffers and about 20 full-time canvassers who are collecting petition signatures and doing surveys to gauge public opinion.

Jon Paul, executive director of Coloradans for Marriage, is working on a much smaller budget. He is one of four full-time staff and seven district coordinators who get paid small stipends, he said.

Paul said he expects more people will contribute to his campaign once volunteers collect the nearly 68,000 valid signatures of registered voters to put the issue on the ballot.

Paul said his group is relying on the support of 140 churches across the state whose members will be working to support the initiative.

"Most of the money generally in campaigns is spent at the end, when most people are paying attention, and that's not going to be anything different for us," Paul said.

In Colorado

Four measures related to gay relationships are proposed for the November ballot:

THE COLORADO MARRIAGE AMENDMENT:

Would amend the state constitution to say "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."

• Status: Needs 67,829 valid voter signatures, due Aug. 7, to be on the ballot

THE DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE:

Would give same-sex couples who register as domestic partners many of the benefits and responsibilities afforded to married couples, including the ability to make medical decisions, inherit property and obtain life insurance proceeds.

• Status: On the ballot

COUNTER TO PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE:

This is a state constitutional amendment, sponsored by state Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, and former Colorado Springs car dealer, Will Perkins, that says the government could not "create or recognize a legal status similar to that of marriage."

• Status: Needs 67,829 valid voter signatures, due Aug. 7, to be on the ballot

COUNTER TO LUNDBERG-PERKINS:

This is a state constitutional amendment that says a domestic partnership is "a unique and valid relationship between eligible adults of the same sex and is not similar to marriage."

• Status: Needs 67,829 valid voter signatures, due Aug. 7, to be on the ballot

Big money for campaigns

Coloradans for Marriage

• $101,628 of donations

• $55,000 from Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs-based evangelical Christian group

• $12,000 from New Life Church, the Colorado Springs megachurch led by the Rev. Ted Haggard

Coloradans for Fairness and Equality

• $229,618 of donations. This group also is supporting the initiative to give legal benefits to domestic partners and an amendment that would say domestic partnerships are not similar to marriage.

• $179,000 from the Gill Action Fund, the political spending arm of Tim Gill, the wealthy software company founderSource: Colorado Secretary Of State

or 303-892-2361