Gay-marriage foes to rally at Safeco Field

By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The lines are being drawn in what could be a lengthy social, legal and political fight between the state's proponents of same-sex marriage and their adversaries.

A contingent of multifaith clergy members will lob a key pitch tomorrow, hoping to fill Safeco Field from noon to 2 p.m. for what they've termed a Mayday for Marriage rally.

The organizers, a group of area pastors using TV ads and a public-relations firm, have booked national pro-family speaker James Dobson, who has called the consequences of losing the gay-marriage fight "dire."

Pro-gay-marriage activists plan to respond with a demonstration: a "welcoming party" just outside Safeco Field. A vigil by Soulforce in Washington, a national interfaith gay-rights group, also is planned.

Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond and a leading organizer of the rally, said he hopes the opposition is out in full force: "Maybe someone will get saved," he said. "We didn't start this fight, the gay community did. This event will prove we're serious, that the groundswell is really not for gay marriage but traditional marriage," Hutcherson said.

"We know there are two things political leaders understand: money and votes. With this event, we're showing them we have both."

The clash comes at a momentous time in the gay-rights movement nationwide: with the state of Massachusetts poised to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on May 17 and with lawsuits seeking same-sex marriage pending in several other states, including Washington.

And while they feel compelled to respond to antagonists, many pro-gay-marriage activists are downplaying the significance of tomorrow's event in Seattle. "I don't think public opinion will be swayed by who has a demonstration or how many people show up," said Roger Winters, of the Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington.

"The long-term strategy has been one of education and attention to the issues, with the stories of folks whose lives are affected by the absence of equality ... ."

Winters points to struggles for social justice throughout history: women's suffrage, emancipation, civil rights for blacks. "The overall campaign to win equality and end discrimination for same-sex couples is not going to take as long as it took to deal with slavery and women's suffrage. But the results will be very similar."
 
Organizers of tomorrow's Mayday for Marriage rally said they had 30 days to pull the event together, relying on a legion of volunteers to send 30,000 e-mail messages seeking support. Hutcherson said he called on his "good friends," talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and Ann Graham Lotz (daughter of evangelist Billy Graham) to spread the word, and contacted dozens of organizations, including Promise Keepers, a group that seeks to unite Christian men.

A weeklong TV blitz this week delivered 30-second spots on major stations throughout the state. The group has a toll-free number, a Web site and a public-relations firm.

In recent weeks, 34 of the rally pastors, along with two evangelical groups and two state lawmakers, filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by several gay couples denied marriage licenses by King County. "They woke up a sleeping giant," Hutcherson said, referring to County Executive Ron Sims' invitation to the gay couples to sue him and to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' executive order recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere.

"What better time to call a mayday for marriage — to say that marriage is in trouble and it's time for heterosexuals to come out of the closet?" he asked. "We're serious about getting people out."

The Rev. Joseph Fuiten, pastor of the Cedar Park Assembly of God in Bothell and another rally organizer, said, "It's important for politicians and the Supreme Court to understand that often we don't speak publicly on these issues. The vast majority of people do not want to see a bunch of activists change the definition of marriage."

Sending a message

Even if tomorrow's rally draws only half the people predicted — estimates have been between 10,000 and 40,000 — it could send a message. "I think this Saturday rally is directed at the larger and longer-lasting political fight," Seattle University law professor Julie Shapiro said. "There's an interest in getting people whipped up about this. It's all about mobilizing people and getting the forces together and getting them ready to work on political campaigns.

"I think anybody who cares about this issue, regardless of what side they're on, has to be thinking in terms of political action."

But Jamie Pedersen, a co-chair of Lambda Legal, a national advocacy group for gays and lesbians, believes opponents of same-sex marriage, more so than its supporters, have their work cut out for them.

"They realize they are fighting against the tide of history on this issue," Pedersen said. "The burden for them to overcome is much higher than proponents of change, in some ways. It would be a big deal for them to be able to change the face of the Legislature in a way that could lead to a passage of a state constitutional amendment."

While the two lawsuits challenging Washington's marriage laws could reach the state Supreme Court by late summer or fall, many say the real battle will play out in the Legislature. As they did in Massachusetts and Hawaii, opponents of same-sex marriage could seek to amend the state constitution to prevent gay couples from marrying once and for all.

In Oregon, the Defense of Marriage Coalition is gathering signatures for an initiative that seeks a constitutional ban on gay marriage there. Shapiro predicted, "there quite possibly could be a statewide ballot (on a constitutional amendment) in Washington in November 2005." Some gay activists say this is not a new issue for them and they already have a structure in place for a sustained fight. Others, however, aren't so sure.

Bill Dubay, who heads the state gay-rights group Don't Amend, worries that activists spend too much time making sure everyone has a voice instead of doing the "pragmatic work of electing a Legislature that will at least not show animosity toward us."

"We don't expect that at this stage of the game we're going to elect a pro-gay Legislature. But if we can have a friendly majority in both houses, the next step will be to stop a U.S. Constitution and a state constitutional amendment."

Meanwhile, those who oppose same-sex marriage have their own problem: the troubled state of the institution they are trying to defend.

Jeff Kemp, president of Families Northwest, said that while his organization recognizes the contention building around the issue of gay marriage, he believes there's another approach: "rebuilding the blueprint for marriage."

Any constitutional amendment, Kemp said, "has to be done in context" of this question: Is there hope for making traditional marriages succeed more often than they do today?

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com