Jul 18, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

The focus on defeating an initiative banning same-sex marriage in California has complicated fundraising efforts for those fighting a similar measure in Florida, according to a spokesperson affiliated with the campaign.

Stephen Gaskill, spokesperson for Florida Red and Blue, the organization fighting the initiative in that state, told the Blade that the Florida campaign would be bringing in more money if not for the situation in California.

“Certainly if the California effort was not underway, it would be easier for Florida to raise money — that’s just a reality,” he said.

Voters in both California and Florida this November will have the opportunity to vote on amendments to their state constitutions that would ban same-sex marriages. The Arizona Legislature last month approved a similar amendment, so voters in that state also will decide on the issue this fall.

“Having the California amendment battle also out there is taking some of the focus away from Florida,” Gaskill said.

Despite competition with California, Gaskill described fundraising efforts in Florida as successful. He said he didn’t want to give the impression that fundraising wasn’t happening in Florida or that competition has been detrimental to Florida’s campaign.

“We have a tremendous amount of support within Florida and from groups that are working on these issues around the country,” he said. “They had committed to us before California was on the ballot and they’ve remained with us.”

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the organization fighting the amendment in California had raised $1.3 million. Earlier this year, the Florida campaign reported that it had raised $2.5 million.
While the Florida campaign has almost double the money of the California campaign, the Florida effort had a head start because it began in spring 2007 and efforts in California began earlier this year.

Human Rights Campaign has donated less money to the Florida campaign than it has to the California campaign. HRC spokesperson Rachel Balick said the organization has given $550,000 to California, including $475,000 in cash, and $125,000 to Florida, including $75,000 in cash.

In response to Gaskill’s comments, Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, said he hopes supporters of same-sex marriage would “all dig a little deeper and support important work in Florida.”

But he called California an “absolutely top priority” and said all supporters should contribute to the campaign because a victory there would “tremendously benefit” the nationwide fight for same-sex marriage.

Activists have mixed opinions on how the California battle and same-sex marriages taking place in that state are affecting public opinion in Arizona and Florida.

Gaskill said California isn’t impacting voter opinion in Florida because the amendments in the two states are different.

The California amendment states that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. The Florida amendment similarly defines marriage, but has additional language outlawing “the substantial equivalent to marriage.”

“Nobody knows what that means,” Gaskill said. “Is that civil unions? Is it domestic partnerships?”

Gaskill said the images of gay couples getting married in California is “going to be a wash” in influencing Florida voters because the images would encourage some residents to vote in favor of the amendment while discouraging an equal number of others.

A Quinnipiac poll published June 3 found that 58 percent of Florida voters would support the marriage initiative while 37 percent would oppose it. The amendment needs the approval of 60 percent of voters to become part of the state constitution.

Yes2Marriage.com, the organization backing the Florida marriage amendment, did not respond to the Blade’s request comment.

Sam Holdren, spokesperson for Equality Arizona, similarly said that same-sex marriages taking place in California are not influencing public opinion in Arizona one way or the other.

“Our opponents are going to use it … as a scare tactic to get people to vote in favor of the amendment, but polling that we’ve seen shows that Arizonans don’t buy into that message,” he said.
Holdren said he would not make public the polling data to which he referred in his comments.

A Feb. 26 poll by the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication found that 49 percent of Arizona residents would vote in favor of a marriage amendment if it didn’t affect domestic partner benefits. Residents who said they’d vote against it accounted for 40 percent while 11 percent said they were undecided. A majority vote is needed to approve the measure.

But Bruce Hausknecht, an analyst for Focus on the Family, a conservative group, said the California Supreme Court’s decision on May 15 legalizing same-sex marriage would influence voters in Arizona and Florida to support the marriage amendments.

Voters will be driven to ...