Coalition for Marriage and Family Regroups

Three months after the defeat of its constitutional amendment to take away civil marriage rights from same-sex couples, VoteOnMarriage.org announced that most of its activities would now be taking place through an organization called the Coalition for Marriage and Family. Chanel Prunier, campaign director for VoteOnMarriage, will now oversee the Coalition, and VoteOnMarriage spokesperson Lisa Barstow said that VoteOnMarriage will remain dormant unless another marriage amendment campaign is launched.

The Coalition, which Barstow said operates as a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, actually predates VoteOnMarriage. In 2004 the Coalition formed to advocate for the passage of an earlier marriage amendment, which was defeated in 2005. At that time the Coalition functioned as an alliance of organizations dedicated to passing the amendment, including national Christian right organizations like Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and the Alliance Defense Fund, as well as Bay State organizations like the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), Massachusetts Catholic Conference and the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston. The Coalition was mothballed following the launch of VoteOnMarriage in 2005, and between June and July of 2005 the Coalition transferred $100,000 from its coffers to VoteOnMarriage, according to records from the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Barstow said that the new incarnation is not an alliance of organizations. Instead it builds on the model of VoteOnMarriage of mobilizing grassroots supporters.

"While the same organizations that were part of the original makeup are connected to the organization, it really is more about the grassroots these days than about convening the heads of organizations that are active on these issues," said Barstow.

While VoteOnMarriage, which was organized as a ballot question committee, was prohibited by law from advocating on issues beyond the marriage amendment, Barstow said the Coalition will advocate on a range of issues including marriage, gambling, abstinence-only education and stem cell research.

The Coalition shares that broader agenda with MFI, a Focus on the Family affiliate and the lead organization in the VoteOnMarriage coalition. Barstow said that MFI will be similarly active in working with the Coalition, but MFI will focus more on research and public education while the Coalition will focus on mobilizing supporters for political advocacy.

"I think the Coalition work is more grassroots oriented, energizing the base in the way VoteOnMarriage did," said Barstow.