2 sides gird for vote on marriage

Voters won't decide whether to amend the state's constitution to ban gay marriages for six months.

But both sides of the issue aren't delaying preparations for their campaigns on a ballot issue on which few people lack an opinion.

Scott McCoy is piecing together Don't Amend's fledgling campaign office, which he hopes will soon be buzzing with volunteers, eager to convince voters to reject a ban on same-sex marriages in the state's constitution.

Meanwhile, Gayle Ruzicka, president of conservative Utah Eagle Forum, says a campaign is in the works to persuade voters to support what she calls the "traditional" definition of marriage.

Both sides say they'll rely on volunteer driven, grass-roots efforts to make their cases.

For Karen Clark of South Jordan, a stay-at-home mom and vice president of Eagle Forum, the amendment is necessary to protect morals and the sanctity of family.

"This is a very family-oriented state with great family values," Clark said. "There is definitely a movement on the other side, across the nation. We do need to stand up for what we believe in. That is very important."

Megan Garcia of West Valley City is also trying to protect her family.

"I think people really need to understand that whether gay people can get married or not, we live together, raise families together. We just want to be able to protect our families like (straight couples) can," said Garcia, who is raising a 6-month-old daughter with her lesbian partner.

Ruzicka said the Eagle Forum, which champions moral causes before the Utah Legislature, has a core of several hundred volunteers, and she's sure there will be plenty of people willing to help as the campaign develops this summer. She said fund-raising won't start until the campaign is legally formed.

And while it seems Utah's LDS Church majority would make passage of the amendment a foregone conclusion, Ruzicka doesn't appear complacent about her campaign to change the state constitution in addition to the Utah law that already bans gay marriage.

Ruzicka points to Massachusetts, where gay marriages were recently made legal by a court decision, as evidence that without constitutional protection, Utah's marriage law is vulnerable.

"I don't think we can give it any more urgency. It's very important; it needs to pass," Ruzicka said. "The homosexual lobby will make a lot of effort in the state to stop it."