Nov 05, 2004  |  By: DYANA BAGBY  | COMMENTS     

ATLANTA — Gay marriage bans proposed in 11 states all passed easily Tuesday, bringing the number of states that constitutionally banned same-sex unions this year to 13.

Four other states — Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska and Nevada — previously approved gay marriage bans. Voters in Louisiana and Missouri approved constitutional amendments opposing same-sex unions earlier this year.

The clean sweep of the proposals Nov. 2 dealt a blow to the gay civil rights movement, pundits said, and may have contributed to President Bush winning Ohio — and a second term.

“It looks like in Ohio, moral values was the No. 1 issue on people’s minds, which was somewhat surprising,” said Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political scientist who studies voter initiatives. “Among Bush supporters, moral values even trumped terrorism. And I think [the ballot measure] did definitely have a mobilizing effect.”

But representatives of national gay organizations said Wednesday that despite the losses, the campaigns fighting the marriage bans mobilized forces across the country to face future anti-gay legislative proposals.

“One of the primary reasons the amendments were unleashed upon us was to energize the far right, but this didn’t work,” Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, said Wednesday during a telephone briefing with reporters.

“We think the data show a failed strategy,” he said.

Supporters of the measures, though, said the overwhelming support for the gay marriage bans is the beginning of a powerful movement.

“This is just the beginning of a revolution for people of faith and conservatives,” said Phil Burress, president of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values. “Mr. Kerry can blame his Massachusetts Supreme Court for his loss because we started campaigning the day after they passed the law [giving marriage rights to gay couples].”

Results in the 11 states that voted on constitutional same-sex marriage bans Tuesday — Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah — weren’t even close.

In Oregon, where the strongest chance existed to defeat the ballot initiative, voters supported a gay marriage ban by 56 to 44 percent.

In Ohio, where the Republican governor and both GOP U.S. senators opposed the ballot measure as bad for the state’s economy, the measure passed by a 62 to 38 percent margin.

Some political pundits on Wednesday pointed to Ohio’s gay marriage ban as tilting the hotly contested state in favor of President Bush. A win in Ohio helped propel Bush to a second term.

“Issue 1 made the difference in Ohio,” Burress said of the marriage ban. “We have an incredible army now that just woke up that will work to further the cause of family values and take the country back and shut down these activist judges.”

The ballot measures also helped turn out evangelical Christian voters, Smith said.

“They did have a high voter saliency and they did help to bring understanding of the candidates,” Smith said. “Was it orchestrated by the Republican Party? No. But it was certainly condoned. It was not a coincidence they were on the ballots of these 11 states.”

Rural voters overwhelm opponents in Oregon
In Oregon, where gay rights activists felt they had the best chance of defeating the same-sex marriage ban, rural pro-amendment voters turned out to help pass the measure by 937,509 votes, or 56 percent, to 727,807 votes, or 44 percent, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state.

Foreman said much of the campaign’s funds and resources were used in Multnomah County, which includes Portland. Voters in the city defeated the measure by 328,271 votes, or 62.5 percent, to 122,815 votes, or 37 percent. But in rural Deschutes County, for example, the measure easily passed 40,893 votes, or 61 percent, to 25,639 votes, or 38.5 percent.

Opponents of the Oregon measure spent about $2.8 million, significantly more than in the other 10 states facing similar measures. Supporters raised about $2.3 million, though Foreman said that figure did not include money raised through supportive churches.

“We had somewhat close to the resources needed, but did not have anything close to the competition’s resources. In reality, we were outspent in Oregon,” Foreman said.

NGLTF contributed more than $900,000 to the fight in Oregon, including $799,000 in cash, the use of 12 staff members and recruiting 70 other campaign veterans ...