$279,994 to fight ban on gay unions

The effort to sway Utah voters to defeat a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages has garnered close to $280,000 — money that will be siphoned into a grass-roots campaign that includes an active door-to-door effort.

Meeting Tuesday's filing deadline to disclose contributions to the state Elections Office, the Don't Amend Alliance reported contributions of $279,994 collected so far to kill the proposed amendment.

A resolution to put the issue before voters this November in the general election passed in the Utah Legislature this last session, as did a ban via statute approved by the majority of lawmakers.

The Senate sponsor of the measure, Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said the amendment is meant to further solidify Utah's stance on the issue. "There is no doubt I intend to be in the forefront of this battle."

But Scott McCoy, head of the alliance, is equally determined to influence voters to cast a "no" vote when they go the polls this fall. McCoy said he has about 300 committed volunteers and is hoping as many as 3,000 will join the effort.

Contributions reported by the Political Issues Committee include $235,000 given by the Bruce Bastian Foundation — Bastian being the man who co-founded WordPerfect — and $5,000 from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which McCoy said is headed by a former Utahn, Kate Kendall.

Other contributors include attorney Jane Marquardt, an openly gay woman who has championed equal rights, and Bob Marquardt, an Ogden philanthropist whose money and efforts helped establish the much-visited Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Both Marquardts gave $10,000.

McCoy said the fund-raising efforts are encouraging so far.

"We are pleased with how the fund raising is going. We are going to keep at it and we hope to raise as much money as we possibly can to fight the fight. Fortunately, our campaign is going to be really grass-roots-oriented, so it will not be as expensive as some campaigns."

---

E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com