A Connecticut group opposed to gay marriage is launching a media campaign to encourage state residents to define marriage as a union only between a man and woman.
The Defend Marriage Now campaign, which organizers say will begin on Thursday, includes highway billboards and radio and television advertisements.
"There's nothing about standing up for marriage that's connected with hate," said Brian Brown, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut and a coordinator of the campaign.
"It's a core component of society. People shouldn't be afraid to stand up in defense of marriage."
The campaign's kickoff is timed with Massachusetts lawmakers' return to a debate on a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage. The state's high court is the first to declare such marriages legal.
In Connecticut, anti-gay marriage advocates are asking churches to hang banners that publicize the Defend Marriage Now message, and are seeking signatures on a statement that spells out how they think marriage should be defined. The statement says that "marriage and family are increasingly threatened by same-sex 'marriage,' civil unions and domestic partnership legislation." It also says "all major world religions, an abundance of social science evidence, natural reason, and common sense all make clear that marriage is and only can be the union of a man and a woman."
Brown said a diverse group of local and state lawmakers, business leaders and clergy will gather at the Capitol Wednesday to announce the campaign. The group supports both a federal ban on gay marriage and passage of a "Defense of Marriage Act" in Connecticut. The legislature's Judiciary Committee has not considered a civil unions bill or a gay marriage ban this session, and likely will not, said Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, a co-chairman of the committee.
Legislators enacted a law last year that allows any person to legally designate another to make health care choices and organ donation decisions for them. The group supporting the campaign is "way outside of the mainstream," Lawlor said.
"The more people talk about it, the more people think about it, the more they shift to wanting to protect rights for gay and lesbian couples," he said.
Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family, said lawmakers were likely not interested in pursuing the issue because the session is short and lawmakers also have to deal with the impeachment investigation of Gov. John G. Rowland. The Family Institute's campaign "could show they have a lot more money than they have support," Stanback said. "But I think sometimes, with civil rights issues, money is not necessarily what wins out in the end."
Rep. Al Adinolfi, R-Cheshire, said he has already received e-mails from people in support of a Defense of Marriage Act. He said it is possible that such a proposal could be placed in an amendment on a bill later in the session.
"We have to find something germane to put it on," he said. "So far, no one can come up with anything. But it's still early."
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