Below The Beltway

The summer is barely halfway over, and already both opponents and supporters are taking an aggressive stance in the fight over the Virginia intiative to amend the state Constitution to ban gay marriage.

The proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in Virginia has sparked an aggressive fundraising effort, with each side of the debate hoping to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars for their cause.

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To help rally amendment opponents, the Commonwealth Coalition, a Richmond-based group, has set an ambitious goal of raising $3 million, organizers said. They want to fund a barrage of radio and television ads in the fall. Meanwhile, the Family Foundation Action, which is organizing amendment supporters, has set a best-case-scenario fundraising goal of $900,000, although activists and volunteers said they expected to raise less than that.

Already, both sides have created Internet fundraising mechanisms and appealed to potential voters through churches and community events across the state. Activists said they plan a direct mailing campaign throughout the summer and fall.

Activists on both sides said money raised for the marriage amendment will go toward outreach, mailers and electronic advertising.

“I don’t think there’s any question that Virginians are engaged in this fight and that they’re stepping up to the plate both as volunteers and contributors,” said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, campaign director for the coalition.

And, in addition to fundraising, the rhetoric is increasing as well:

The struggle over money mirrors the sharp campaigning that has begun. Opponents, who include Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), have argued that the language of the amendment — that the state will “not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals” — is so broad that it also would affect contracts between unwed heterosexual couples. Kaine spoke on that point in a radio interview Thursday.

The amendment “in my view disenfranchises . . . unmarried people, both same-sex or heterosexual couples,” Kaine said. But he took his criticism one step further, saying that the proposed amendment was discriminatory:

“There’s nothing else in the [Virginia] Bill of Rights that takes away rights of people. We’re equal citizens in the state; we ought to be treated equally.”

The broad language of the proposed amendment is one of the reasons I have already said I will vote against it in November. What is becoming clear is that this Amendment will define the election for every other candidate on the ballot. Given the nature of Virginia politics, and the fact that I am as confident that the amendment will pass as I am that it is a horrible idea, I expect that this will benefit Republicans, specifically including Senator George Allen, come November.

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