Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Acitvist fund fight to help gays wed

A big role in a fight to help gays wed
Activist Tim Gill and allies of his funded 38% of the opposition to same-sex marriage bans.
By Karen E. Crummy
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/07/2007 02:05:30 AM MDT


Gay-rights activist Tim Gill and a network of his political allies last year funded 38 percent of the opposition to same-sex marriage bans across the country, according to a recent analysis of campaign contributions conducted by a nonpartisan group.

Yet, all but one of the bans were approved by voters.

Don't expect to hear any second-guessing or regrets from Gill's camp, however.

"We'd absolutely do it again," said Patrick Guerriero, director of the Gill Action Fund, which is entirely bankrolled by the software entrepreneur. "We are making investments. We know this is part of a longer conversation."

Gill, 53, who founded Quark Inc. in 1981 and sold his interest seven years ago, has poured millions of dollars into state races over the past few years in an effort to strengthen gay rights.

In 2004, he and three other wealthy Colorado Democrats - billionaire Pat Stryker, former state Board of Education member Jared Polis and software entrepreneur Rutt Bridges - funneled millions into independent political groups. The maneuver is largely credited with giving Democrats control of the statehouse for the first time in more than 44 years.

Last year, Gill took his state strategy and exported it to the national stage. He got involved in not only state legislative races, but ballot issues.

Nine states, including Colorado, had constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage on their 2006 ballots. About $18 million was raised by committees on both sides of the debate, although the opponents of the bans raised three times as much as the proponents, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Gill's fund contributed $3.8 million in eight of those states, and his political allies, such as Stryker and Polis, gave another $1.5 million, according to the institute.

On Election Day, the marriage bans were approved by voters in Alabama, Idaho, Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Arizona was the only state where voters struck down the ban.

But the Gill Action Fund's definition of success is not winning, necessarily.

"We didn't expect to win in South Carolina," Guerriero said. "There isn't going to be an epiphany on gay rights. It's an incremental conversation."

He noted that the margins in Colorado, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin were narrower than in states that passed the measures in earlier election cycles. Also, a number of state lawmakers who support gay rights have been elected throughout the country, and some are changing laws.

In Colorado this year, Democratic control of the statehouse helped pass a bill allowing any two unmarried people to adopt each other's children.

"Gill has made a real impact in state legislative races, which is helping him get some statutory goals he had," said Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli. "Nationally, he's providing education and building infrastructure."

No strategic decisions for 2008 have been made yet, according to Guerriero. But even when they are, they're not expected to be made public. Gill and his political maneuvers are usually kept close to the vest in order to maintain the element of surprise.

However, supporting like-minded state lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation, is a safe bet. There are a number of issues, from hate crimes to employment discrimination, that still need to be addressed, Guerriero said.

"We have an eye towards places that show real possibilities for expanding and protecting gay rights," he said.

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