Mass. marriage equality advocates, opponents, lend a hand in Cali

With California voters poised to decide the future of marriage equality in their state, advocates on both sides of the issue in Massachusetts are providing limited assistance to their allies in that state. This month the California Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage for same-sex couples went into effect, but in November voters will weigh in on a ballot question to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

On the pro-equality side, Marc Solomon, campaign director of MassEquality, said he has had some conversations with Equality California about the experience of advocates in Massachusetts. He said he has intentionally kept his advice to a minimum because he has confidence in the advocates working in California.

"We've had informal conversations with some of the people who are involved in the campaign. The people in California really know what they're doing. They've brought in some terrific talents and have put together an aggressive campaign plan. ... I've passed along some things that worked for us and things that, my hunch is, would work in California or would work anywhere. But I never liked it when someone from really far away who purported to be an expert thought they would know the best way to do things, and I'm really respecting that," said Solomon.

Solomon said he spoke with advocates about the importance of having a strong field campaign and about the success MassEquality and its allies had winning over lawmakers by focusing on the personal stories of same-sex couples and their families.

Opponents of marriage equality in Massachusetts are also lending a hand to their side in California. Last week the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) sent an e-mail to its supporters urging them to donate money to the ballot initiative campaigns in both California and Florida, which also has a marriage amendment question on the ballot this November. MFI, which led the unsuccessful effort to overturn marriage equality in Massachusetts, is the local affiliate of the Colorado-based Christian right powerhouse Focus on the Family, and Focus is taking a lead role in the ballot campaigns in both California and Florida. The two organizations leading the charge to pass the ballot questions in those states, YesToMarriage.org in Florida and ProtectMarriage.org in California, are headed by the leaders of those states' local Focus on the Family affiliates.