For Gill, it's not about the money

Political power broker sees fortune as means to make a 'difference in his lifetime'

Myung Oak Kim And Burt Hubbard, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 23, 2006 at midnight

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He's a science fiction buff who spends hours in front of his 30-inch computer screen, writing programs and running social Web sites.

He also is the MVP of the gay rights movement who has spent millions of dollars of his own money to advance gay issues and back candidates in Colorado and across the country who share his vision of what America should be.

Tim Gill, the 53-year-old founder of the desktop software firm Quark, became a force in Colorado politics two years ago when he and three other wealthy residents spent $2 million to help install a Democratic majority in both houses of the state legislature for the first time in decades.

This year, Gill has dropped almost $5 million so far on state election campaigns - more than any other individual in Colorado.

Nearly half that amount has gone to the group sponsoring Referendum I, the Nov. 7 ballot initiative that would allow gay couples to register as domestic partners and obtain many rights and responsibilities given to married couples.

The rest was given mostly to independent political groups that support Democrats - including gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter, congressional candidates Ed Perlmutter and Angie Paccione and numerous state legislative hopefuls.

"I have never seen in Colorado politics in the 30-some odd years where I've been active . . . any individual involved to the degree that Tim Gill is," said political consultant Katy Atkinson, a registered Republican who works with both sides of the aisle on ballot measures.

"Should he choose to, he can shape any part of Colorado public policy he wants to."

Gill also is a player on the national stage, funneling more than $2 million into mostly Democratic causes, including the Democracy Alliance, a new group made up of dozens of the country's wealthiest donors who are lavishing money on think tanks and organizations to counter similar groups established years ago by conservatives.

All of this is on top of Gill's considerable philanthropy. Gill and his 12-year-old Gill Foundation have spent more than $80 million on gay and lesbian causes and on other organizations friendly to their gay workers, including the Pikes Peak Library Foundation, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and Public Broadcasting of Colorado.

And all of this is just the beginning, according to Gill's political adviser Ted Trimpa.

"Tim is in it for the long haul," said Trimpa, a partner at the high-profile law firm Brownstein Hyatt & Farber. "What we're talking about is strategic philanthropy and strategic politics.

"Philanthropy on its own is not going to make this world a better place. Ultimately, it's about the people that we elect. . . . We need to be helping fair-minded individuals get into office and do the right thing."

Gill declined to be interviewed for this story.

Trimpa emphasizes that Gill does not thrive on power, shuns the spotlight and is only part of a larger movement to support progressive causes.

'Unquestionable' national impact

Much of Gill's support has gone to 527 groups, which take their name from Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Unlike candidate-backed committees and traditional political action committees, or PACs, 527s are not subject to the strict contribution limits and regular reporting requirements of the Federal Election Commission.

Instead, the law allows these groups to collect unlimited contributions, often from just one or a handful of wealthy donors, and use the money to make independent expenditures to support or oppose individual candidates.

Gill is the top political donor in Colorado and much of the West to national 527 groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks political contributions. He ranks 16th among all individual 527 donors nationwide, said organization communications director Massie Ritsch.

"If you're No. 16 on the 527 list, you're in the elite," Ritsch said. "If I need to put together a dinner party of the biggest left-leaning donors in the country, I'd invite him."

These 527 donations give Gill a behind- the-scene hand in influencing campaigns far from Colorado. For example, the Lantern Project, a Gill beneficiary, is funding ads against U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

Steve Farber, the Denver lawyer and political insider who is trying to bring the 2008 Democratic National Convention to Denver, describes Gill as "a very loyal Democrat both locally and nationally."

"I think his impact nationally is unquestionable," Farber said.

Gill's political adversaries say they are well aware of his impact.

"I see him as being the most focused force on a political agenda," said state Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, a vocal opponent of Referendum I. "He's trying to mainstream the homosexual community into our culture."

"I am concerned that he has been very effective and will continue to be very effective," he added. "That's the way the system works. He has that right because he has the resources."

One prominent conservative organization, the Family Research Council, downplays Gill's impact.

Tom McClusky, the council's vice president of government affairs, points to victories in 20 states for constitutional amendments that ban gay marriage, despite opposition from gay rights groups.

Gill gave $150,000 to fight the amendment in Oregon, which passed with 57 percent of the vote in 2004. The Gill Action Fund has donated $200,000 to oppose Amendment 43, the gay marriage ban on Colorado's ballot.

"If he wants to keep on spending his money, in my opinion he's throwing it away," McClusky said. "He's not on any of our dart boards around here."

For gay rights organizations, however, Gill is a savior.

Marty Rouse, national field director of the Human Rights Campaign, calls Gill "an American hero."

"He's a visionary because he doesn't just donate money. . . . He is using his money to build political power in a way that brings everybody together. He wants everybody to work together toward that end. So he's lifting up all of us."

Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, a national group advocating gay marriage, said Gill is approaching his political goals with urgency.

"Some people invest in things knowing that they will unfold over generations. Here you have somebody who has the opportunity to make a difference in his lifetime."

A focus on local politics

At a three-day Gill-sponsored conference in Miami last March, Gill pushed for a major shift in political strategy in the gay rights movement.

The Gill Action Fund "political outgiving" meeting brought together almost 200 of the biggest advocates and supporters of the gay rights movement. Gill's message to them was simple: All politics is local.

Until then, wealthy gay donors often focused on "glamour giving" - donations to presidential or congressional campaigns with an eye toward hobnobbing with the rich and famous.

"He brought everybody together and said 'Here we go. Let's focus strategically at the local level,' " said Rouse.

"He saw how he was able to make a difference in his home state and he said, 'If I can make a difference in Colorado, you can make a difference in your home state. So let's work together to take it to your states.'

"That really was a wake-up call to many of these donors."

Gill's own wake-up call to politics happened in 1992.

That November, despite polls that predicted the opposite result, Colorado voters approved Amendment 2, a ballot initiative that would bar anti-discrimination laws for gays. It was struck down in 1996 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

For Gill, the passage of Amendment 2 felt like a punch in the gut.

"Nothing can compare to the psychological trauma of realizing that more than half the people in your state believe that you don't deserve equal rights," Gill told The Chronicle of Philanthropy in a January 2000 article.

At first, he focused on philanthropy. He created the Gill Foundation in 1994 with an endowment of more than $200 million. On the political side, he donated mostly to national Democratic groups until 2004.

That year, state Rep. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, proposed legislation that would bar public schools from teaching about sexuality other than heterosexuality.

The bill was gutted of that language and ultimately passed. Still, the original proposal angered Gill so much that he shifted his spending. That fall, he donated about $1 million to oppose state and congressional candidates that he perceived as being anti- gay, Trimpa said.

At the time, former state Senate President John Andrews was working on campaigns to maintain the Republican majority.

He said Gill, along with millionaires Jared Polis, Pat Stryker and Rutt Bridges, "overwhelmed us with a tsunami of money."

Democrats gained one seat in the state Senate and seven seats in the House - enough for majorities in both places.

"I think it's alarming when two or three mega-rich individuals can start buying elections," Andrews said.

Trimpa argues that Gill and the other wealthy donors were only doing what Republicans have done for years.

The complaints are "the height of hypocrisy," he said. "They can't have it both ways."

Support for some Republicans

Trimpa emphasizes that Gill's political strategy is not just Democrat-focused. He said Gill recognizes that gay equality will not come without Republican support. That's why Gill tries to support Republicans - including state legislative candidates Rob Witwer, Al White and Ken Kester.

It's also a big reason why Gill hired Patrick Guerriero, a former Massachusetts state representative and executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, to run the Gill Action Fund. Gill created the group in 2005 as a political action committee.

Still, the GOP is on the low end of his gift list.

"You don't support people who are beating you up," Trimpa said. "People do bad things to us. We have to respond."

Gill's political work also doesn't solely focus on gay causes. He gave $440,000 to support Referendum C and Referendum D last year. Gill also launched a challenge grant to support victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In a rare public appearance, he stood on the steps of the state Capitol next to Gov. Bill Owens to announce the grant for the American Red Cross. Gill pledged to match dollar for dollar any contributions made by Colorado residents. He ended up sending almost $1 million to the nonprofit.

Rodger McFarlane, executive director of the Gill Foundation since 2004, said the Katrina donation exemplifies Gill's selfless generosity.

"If Tim wanted to make a name for himself, he could put his name on the side of buildings. We could have hospitals and libraries named after him," McFarlane said.

"He's a true believer, not a self-serving rich man."

Meet Tim Gill

He's a successful businessman, a philanthropist and a political activist. But there's much more to the man who is helping shape state and national public policy.

• Beginnings: Born in Indiana on Oct. 18, 1953, and grew up in Lakewood. His father was a plastic surgeon. His mother was a homemaker.

• Education: Wheat Ridge High School. Studied math and computer science at the University of Colorado. Declared his sexual orientation in his first few months on campus and participated in protests against courses that called homosexuality a personality disorder.

• Business: In 1981, started the desktop and Internet software company Quark Inc. with a $2,000 loan from his parents. In 1996, he reportedly was worth $425 million. Sold his shares by 2000.

• Adventure: Has traveled the globe and honed snowboarding, mountain biking and paragliding skills. Runs a Web site, called Outboard, for gay and lesbian snowboarders.

• Home life: In 2002, met Scott Miller, a financial consultant, and the two have been committed partners since. They live in a contemporary-style mansion in the Denver Country Club Historic District and also own a log home in Aspen. Likes to get up late, lift weights at the gym, come home and communicate on his computer with the foundation, advisers and people on his Web sites.

• Activism: Created the Connexion Web site, a networking, dating and political activist site, where he posted his own profile. He lists his occupation as "Snowboarder, webmaster and philanthropist."

• Favorites: TV shows: Stargate and Bugs Bunny. Movies: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Chicago.

• Host with the most: He is known to host lavish parties, including during Gay Ski Week in Aspen, and Halloween parties, known as "Hellywood," at the Coors Field parking lot.

Tim Gill's lieutenants

RODGER MCFARLANE

• Age: 51

• Title: Executive director of the Gill Foundation

• What he does: Oversees the foundation's programs, grants and strategy

• Former positions: Extensive experience with helping people with HIV. Founding member of ACT UP and first chief of Gay Men's Health Crisis Inc.

TED TRIMPA

• Age: 39

• Title: Tim Gill's political adviser. He is also a partner at Brownstein Hyatt & Farber.

• What he does: Implements Gill's political strategy through campaign contributions and relationships with political groups, power brokers and politicians

• Former positions: Lobbyist for tobacco and liquor interests

PATRICK GUERRIERO

• Age: 38

• Title: Executive director of Gill Action Fund

• What he does: Executes the political action committee's strategy and spending for campaigns, and serves as its spokesman

• Former positions: Executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group; three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Columnist Penny Parker contributed to this report.

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