There are now two campaigns in support of a proposal to amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage, and organizers say they'll use moral, legal and scientific arguments to sway voters.

The Constitution Defense of Marriage Alliance registered Monday with the state Elections Commission, and Yes for Marriage formed late last month. The two campaigns have the same goal but slightly different philosophies.

"We'll complement each other," Gayle Ruzicka, director of Constitution Defense, said. "Their group is concentrating more on scientific issues, scientifically why same-sex couples are not good for families. We'll touch on that, we're also working on moral issues."

There's another difference between the two campaigns. Sheldon Kinsel of Heber City, vice president of Yes for Marriage, said marriage needs to be protected at both the state and federal level. Ruzicka considers marriage to be a state issue.

"We want to make sure in our effort to convince people this needs to be passed, they understand this is a national issue too," Kinsel said.

Kinsel said there's evidence based on social science research that "the traditional family is far and away the best place for children."

So far the only active campaign has been the Don't Amend Alliance. That group opposes the amendment based on its second part, which would prevent granting the "same or substantially equivalent legal effect as a marriage" to any relationship other than a marriage.

Scott McCoy, head of Don't Amend, said studies that suggest gays and lesbians are not good parents are "out of context, not scientific, or the vast majority of people in these professions simply disagree with the conclusions of these studies."

McCoy said the amendment is unnecessary since same-sex marriage is already banned by state law, and it would take away basic rights, such as inheritance and hospital visitation, from unmarried couples — gay or straight.

"Our arguments don't change," he said. "We'll continue to educate Utahns about the fact that the amendment is flawed, it hurts families and children in Utah. . . . We're on the side of righteousness."

McCoy said his campaign has identified as many as 13,000 supporters so far, and all three candidates for attorney general have taken a stand against the proposed amendment.

So far voters have yet to hear officially from either pro-amendment campaign. Constitution Defense's official campaign kickoff is planned for next Wednesday. Yes for Marriage's kickoff is planned for sometime after Labor Day.

The board chairman of Yes for Marriage is Richard Wilkins, a Brigham Young University professor who formed a group called Defend Marriage to encourage passage of a federal marriage amendment. That group was taken over as a project of United Families International earlier this year.

Constitution Defense's co-chairmen are the amendment's sponsors, Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, and Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com