Will Connecticut voters call a "Constitutional Convention" Over Gay Marriage?

Posted on October 21, 2008
Filed Under Gay News Blog

The intensity over the ballot question on a state Constitutional convention is heating up.

The once low-key issue is now a full-blown dispute as the “yes” and “no” sides accuse each other of being the narrow special interest in the fight.

The question is gaining more attention because the “no” coalition has raised the surprising sum of $830,000 – mainly for a television advertising campaign that began this week to support their position. Overall, 45 labor, civil rights, and other groups have banned together on the “no” side, while the Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, the Family Institute of Connecticut, and the Roman Catholic Church have joined together on the “yes” side.

The Connecticut State Employees Association, the state AFL-CIO, and various other unions have all joined the “no” coalition.

“It was a below-the-radar story and focused mostly on the gay marriage issue” before last week’s State Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage, said Matt O’Connor, a spokesman for CSEA/SEIU Local 2001. “Gay marriage isn’t one of our issues. It’s about preventing special interests – like the Family Institute – from forcing elections on their fringe issues.”

The unions are particularly interested in blocking any attempt to repeal collective bargaining laws or changing the right to unionize, among others.

“That’s why we have a dog in this fight,” O’Connor said. “This is about pet issues. This is about special interests trying to make their issues happen.”

When asked about charges that CSEA itself is a special interest, O’Connor said, “I’m flattered. I’d like to think I’m special.”

Besides the unions, the “no” coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, the Anti-Defamation League, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, Queers Without Borders, Teamsters Local 559, the Norwalk and Windsor Democratic town committees, and the professors’ unions at the University of Connecticut and Connecticut State University, among others. Nearly 900 individuals, including activists Phil Sherwood of New Britain and Leo Canty of Windsor, are in the “no” coalition.

Outraged by the television campaign, the “yes” coalition held a press conference Friday and denounced what they described as the fear and lies that were being spread by their opponents.

Constitutional Convention Question Heats Up Hartford Courant