Gay entrepreneur and Colorado resident Jared Polis is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. (Photo by Bernard Grant photography)
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KATHERINE VOLIN
Friday, September 14, 2007
Gay
money
is
oozing
out
of
Colorado’s
political
pores
these
days.
Tim
Gill,
a
gay
Denver-based
software
mogul,
began
directing
millions
of
dollars
to
gay
candidates
and
issues
through
the
Gill
Foundation
in
the
late
1990s.
And
then
there’s
Jared
Polis,
who
made
his
money
by
creating
a
web
site,
Blue
Mountain
Arts,
for
his
parents’
company,
Blue
Mountain
Cards,
and
other
business
ventures.
“I
think
it’s
had
a
profound
impact
in
Colorado,”
Polis
says
about
his
and
Gill’s
financial
contributions
to
gay-friendly
politicians.
“We’ve
elected
state
legislative
majorities
that
are
friendly
on
LGBT
issues.
We’ve
moved
the
ball
forward
and
helped
[remove]
some
of
the
most
anti-gay
members
of
our
legislature.”
But
now
Polis
is
ready
to
take
a
more
active
hand
in
politics.
His
latest
venture
is
running
for
an
open
U.S.
House
of
Representatives
seat
in
Colorado’s
2nd
District.
“When
I
had
the
opportunity
to
run
for
Congress,
I
decided
that
was
the
most
effective
way
to
focus
on
creating
national
change
on
the
issues
that
the
voters
…
and
I
care
about,”
Polis
says.
At
32,
Polis
has
the
resume
of
a
much
older
man.
In
addition
to
successfully
creating
and
then
selling
an
Internet
service
company
in
1998
for
a
reported
$22
million
and
the
Blue
Mountain
Arts
web
site
in
1999
for
about
$780
million,
Polis
also
founded
two
education-based
non-profits
and
served
as
chair
of
the
Colorado
state
school
board.
He
currently
works
as
superintendent
at
New
America
School,
which
helps
new
immigrants
ease
into
American
educational
systems.
He
will
resign
from
that
job
next
month
to
focus
on
his
campaign.
“I
love
all
the
things
that
I’ve
been
active
with
in
life.
I
love
starting
new
businesses,
I
love
starting
schools
and
the
non-profit
world,
but
I
feel
that
a
lot
of
the
issues
that
our
nation
faces
need
to
be
tackled
at
the
federal
level,”
he
says.
POLIS
CERTAINLY
HAS
the
resources
to
finance
a
House
race.
He
started
his
campaign
with
$155,000
of
his
own
seed
money
and
hopes
to
raise
$2
million
in
time
for
the
Aug.
5,
2008
primary.
Just
last
week,
he
was
in
Washington,
D.C.,
for
a
fundraiser
at
Halo.
In
2004,
Fortune
estimated
his
net
worth
at
$160
million,
placing
him
right
in
between
tennis
great
Andre
Agassi
and
racecar
driver
Jeff
Gordon.
His
fortune
has
since
been
estimated
somewhere
around
that
figure,
though
since
2004
he’s
sold
Provide
Commerce,
which
is
best
known
for
its
web
site,
ProFlowers.com,
an
online
floral
business,
for
a
reported
$477
million,
according
to
the
Wall
Street
Journal.
“Money
is
to
politics
sort
of
what
water
is
to
life,”
says
Denis
Dison,
spokesperson
for
the
Victory
Fund,
which
provides
support
to
gay
political
candidates.
“You
absolutely
have
to
have
it,
but
it
is
not
everything.
I
think
that’s
a
really
important
point.
You
still
have
to
have
a
candidate
who
is
prepared
and
has
a
plan
to
spend
money
well.
You
can
have
$2
million
in
a
war
chest
and
spend
it
on
buttons.”
The
Victory
Fund
has
not
yet
endorsed
Polis’
candidacy,
but
his
high-profile
campaign
is
the
sort
that
usually
captures
the
board’s
attention,
Dison
says.
He
adds
that
although
the
movement
from
school
board
to
House
of
Representatives
might
seem
like
a
big
step,
it’s
not
a
terribly
far
distance
for
a
candidate
to
travel.
“There
are
people
who
are
elected
to
the
U.S.
Congress
who
don’t
have
very
much
experience
at
all,”
he
says.
“The
House,
you
have
less
of
an
issue
there.
But
I
think
having
won
a
statewide
race
gives
Jared
an
advantage
in
understanding
politics.”
THE
ELECTION
IS
STILL
a
year
away,
with
the
Democratic
primary
being
the
difficult
round
to
win
in
the
liberal
Boulder
area
that
constitutes
Colorado’s
2nd
District.
The
current
representative,
Mark
Udall,
is
running
for
the
state’s
open
U.S.
Senate
seat.
On
the
surface,
Colorado
may
appear
an
unlikely
state
for
an
out
candidate
to
find
success.
“This
is
the
state
of
Focus
on
the
Family,
the
state
of
Marilyn
Musgrave,
the
author
of
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment,
the
state
of
Amendment
Two,”
Polis
says.
Amendment
Two
was
passed
by
Colorado
in
1992
and
prohibited
the
state
and
any
of
its
cities
from
enacting
legislation
that
would
protect
gay
rights.
“Yet
we
have
the
opportunity
to
elect
not
only
Colorado’s
first
openly
gay
member
of
Congress,
but
the
first
openly
gay
man
to
ever
be
elected
to
an
open
congressional
seat.”
Other
gay
male
members
of
Congress,
including
Barney
Frank,
didn’t
reveal
their
sexual
orientation
until
after
taking
office.
It’s
early
in
the
race,
and,
so
far,
Polis’
sexual
orientation
hasn’t
emerged
as
a
campaign
issue,
though
it
has
attracted
some
local
media
attention.
“Being
gay
is
an
interesting
dynamic,”
he
says
when
asked
whether
he’s
faced
challenges
running
as
an
out
gay
man
in
Colorado.
“Like
most
gays
and
lesbians,
there’s
different
degrees
of
being
out.
I’m
out,
there’s
been
articles
about
it
in
the
paper,
but
most
people
haven’t
read
those
articles.
I
will
frequently
get
asked,
‘So
are
you
married?’
There’s
the
continual
process
of
coming
out
and
deciding
when
to
come
out
and
how
much
to
share
really
...
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